


A Game of Kings

by aceofhearts88



Category: Dalton Academy Series, Glee
Genre: Blood, Blowjobs, Death, F/M, M/M, Smut, Violence, definitely smut, so many lovely OC's you will cry and scream for, so many more characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-17
Packaged: 2018-02-24 23:24:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 109,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2600216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofhearts88/pseuds/aceofhearts88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Reform / Modern Day! Game of Thrones AU, focusing on the Stuart Trio</p><p>America was in a state of utter chaos and uncontrolled panics after a terror attack had basically wiped out Washington DC, killing the president and the cabinet, and even though the military was called in to act, the states had gone mostly feral.</p><p>Gangs had built up after the first year of no control, and among those ruling the country in districts now, one of the most fought over area was that of Westerville in Ohio, the small town that had previously inhabited America’s most brutal Reform school.</p><p>Dalton Academy.</p><p>Four houses filled with boys of high ranking crime lords, corrupt politicians and business men whose sons had gotten too much out of control and had been needed to be reigned in by professionals.</p><p>Professional therapists and guards who were all dead now. Been dead for months.</p><p>And the inner struggle between rival groups had already almost evolved into war, self declared kings leading their houses, plotting vengeance.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Part I:

A Girl in the Darkness

The rain was crashing from the sky like a waterfall; a single wall of endless water streaming down onto the deserted street, the last light of the day lost hours ago as the black storm clouds had hidden the blue sky over Westerville.

Booming thunder roared through the air and lightning illuminated the looming, dark shadows of the abandoned and wrecked houses around the empty back road. Windows were destroyed, doors unhinged and thrown carelessly onto the street, clothes were carelessly thrown all over the pavement, the last signs of a former peaceful suburban housing area.

But today, no kids were playing on the streets, no women were laughing with each other over the railings of their balconies, no fathers were greeted at the front door with hugs and excited chatter, signs of peace hadn't been seen in this part of town for months.

As the wind howled, street signs shook in their foundations, traffic lights hung dead, shop signs lay ripped and shattered in front of the stolen doors, their windows and shelves empty and forgotten. No one had stepped into them for quite a while, nothing to find in them anymore but dead leaves from now uprooted trees.

A couple of cars were lined up on the right side of the street, owned by the few people who hadn't been lucky enough to escape as the first gunshots had echoed through the alleys, and the tanks had taken away everyone still hidden in their houses.

And now, the street was part of an even more dangerous path. Part of a death zone that nobody dared to cross, nobody... well, nobody not desperate enough, nobody who had any other choice.

And it was right there, on that street, that our story began.

The thunderstorm roared on and almost swallowed the frantic pounding of shoes on the pavement as the two hooded figures skidded around the corner, into the treacherous silence of the street. Drenched from head to toe, their jackets were dripping with water, clinging to their bodies as their rain soaked pants dared to slow their steps down.

"Come on!" the taller of the two called over the deafening noise of more thunder, her voice barely being carried over to her companion, whose hand she was gripping with almost all her strength, and on they went, running down the street, frantic eyes looking around for the next escape route.

The tall girl was limping heavily, her left thigh wrapped up with a dirty rag - a piece of a torn up shirt - but even in the missing light of the storm it was easy to see the blood soaking the fabric of her pants and the improvised bandage.

As a strong breeze swept her hood back, her face came into view: dark hair pulled up into a ponytail giving a free view of the deep scratch on the left side of her face, blood dried all around it, and the pearls of water on her face were plentiful even before the rain had touched it.

Her blue eyes were clouded with the fever her body could barely fight against anymore, they hadn't had anything to eat or drink for days, barely had anything for weeks before they had escaped. She blinked, gritted her teeth as the nausea fell over her again, as another blinding shot of pain threatened to weaken her knees into submission.

But she ran on - she had to, there was no other choice, not for her anymore. She knew her time was running out, there was no denying anymore, she was dying, and by now, she had accepted it. The gunshot wound had been infected for over a week, it was a miracle she had made it this long without any medical help, the only thing that she counted now was getting her sister into safety, to keep holding on long enough to make sure she would live on.

Another lightning bolt cut through the sky and blinded her for long enough to miss the rusted bike in front of her. Stumbling over it, her knees hit the street and the pain shot like fire through her veins. She screamed out loud, her hand falling from away from her sister's wrist to clutch at her thigh, where new blood was seeping through her pants.

Tears blinded her for a second, mixing into the rain on her skin as she doubled over and pressed her face against the cool surface of the street, not caring for the puddle that her hair fell into. There was no place for vanity in this world anymore.

She felt her sister crouching down beside her, felt her small hands touching her back, and she wanted to stand up, she wanted to get up and take her hand again and run, she wanted to tell her that everything would be okay, that soon she would be safe... but she couldn't.

Every part of her body was on fire, and she longed for ice and the coldness of the street was a relief too tempting to push away. Her body won over the panic in her mind and she let herself roll to the side, her eyes falling close.

Her sister gave a small choked up scream, calling to her instincts loudly enough for her to find the strength to open her eyes again, blue eyes looked into brown and weakly she raised a hand to reach for her little sister.

Change of plans was all she could think about as the still hooded smaller girl slid down onto her knees next to her head, one hand curling their fingers together, and the other one coming to rest upon her hair.

"I fear you have to go on alone now." she rasped out, her heart breaking at the sight of the instant tears on her sister's face, the younger girl having pushed down her hood by then, equally dark hair flying in the wind, the protest was imminent.

"No!" her sister shouted, "No, I'm not going without you. I can't." 

It was not easy, but she found enough life left in her to squeeze her sister's hand and set a stern glare upon her. "You will. You will go on without me and get yourself to safety! You will run from them, run until you lose them! You will run for me! You..." she ended with a hiss, a groan following not soon after as the pain reached for her again.

Her heart was beating frantically, and she could feel it coming, could feel it turning onto the finish line, one last show of strength and power until everything was over, and so she tugged on her sister's hand until she leaned down and they were almost nose to nose.

"You will run, do you understand me?" her sister nodded, tears running over her face in a steady stream by then, the despair, the fear, the terror, all the things she had never wanted to see on her baby sister's beautiful face, "Go now." she took her hand back, but when her sister made no move to stand back up, she raised it to slap it against the girl's chest. "GO NOW!"

Sobbing and pressing a hand over her mouth to keep the whimpers from escaping her lips, the young girl got back to her feet and took some steps, her head turning to look back at her sister every five seconds, and it wasn't until the sound of a car radio reached her ears from the distance that she started to run again, taking one last look over her shoulder to the already motionless body of her sister.

No emotional goodbyes, no last "I love you”, there hadn't been a time or place for feelings since they had been taken from their home, and even now, a single last look had to suffice.

The street made a left turn and for once she had luck on her side as she turned around the corner just a small second before the flood lights on the old Jeep caught the spot she had been standing on as the car of their chasers turned into the street.

She pushed her legs to run faster, blinked against the black spots dancing in her vision, she didn't even feel the calling of her stomach anymore, didn't feel the longing for water, her body only knew to run, to run and never look back.

Her ears caught onto the noise of a car stopping and then as in the next moment a gunshot pierced through the air, she had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep the scream from escaping, she could only hope her sister had already been dead, wouldn't suffer anymore under the torture they exerted on their dying escapees.

Brown eyes frantically looked around for somewhere to hide as the sobs ached in her lungs, and she saw what looked to have been a cafe once, windows still intact, the door standing slightly open, and with a last push of sheer will alone, she hurried across the street, slid inside the battered building and fell to her knees behind the counter.

Painful but soundless sobs racked her small body while she crawled into a dark corner and curled up on the dirty and cold floor, hands still pushed over her mouth to keep all possible noise from being heard.

The silence of the empty cafe almost drowned her, she wasn't used to it anymore, had gotten used to the screams in the night these last weeks, the cries of pain of the tortured ones, the cries of despair of the ones brought back to the barracks.

Silence meant you were broken. And broken meant you were taken away to the buyers.

But the silence was utterly broken as two pairs of steps slipped into the cafe, the door falling shut behind them, and the young girl tensed, eyes snapping open. As more steps sounded, calmer now, she could make out two bodies, they walked light, female then. Clothes shifted and she could sense them sitting or kneeling down not far from her, maybe on the other side of the counter, and then they started to speak.

"That was way too close! I could swear those stupid lights had already caught us.” a female voice whispered, she sounded young, around her own age, the other one snorted.

"Well, they didn't, Ali, or we would be dead now.” another female voice but older sounding cut back, "We just need to let them pass now and then we're on our way back. I hope they will hurry, Mel will wonder where we are, we were supposed to be back hours ago."

"It wasn't my fault.” the person called Ali answered, their banter seemed well used, they were familiar with each other, maybe they were sisters, maybe close friends, her thoughts stopped again as the younger one continued, "Look, why don't you just call him and ask for help. We'll be out of here in minutes and they won't take anyone else tonight.” once again her words were met with a snort.

"I won't call him. He'll only be angry that we went to look at the camp again, and I can go without a speech about responsible behaviour for a week.” there the younger girl giggled, "Oh stop that. Go and look if there is anything left we can take back.” the girl still huddled behind the counter was too surprised by the calmness of them to truly recognize the meaning behind the older girl's words.

How were they this collected? Weren't they afraid to be caught? Why were they looking at the camp and not staying far, far away from it?

Her mind only got around to the actual words of the older girl and the sounds of someone moving as a pair of darker brown eyes looked back at her own brown ones, the girl belonging to them frozen in her crawling position where she had halfway rounded the counter.

They both tensed, unable to look away from each other for a few seconds, and then it was the girl who had been called Ali who moved first, opening her mouth for what she hoped not to be the scream that would give their position away.

"Franzi.” Ali spoke out, confusion and surprise heavy on her tongue, "Could you come here for a moment?” another body shifted and before she could have even so much as blinked twice in obvious terror another girls appeared at the edge of the counter, brown eyes looking her away.

"Oh dear, well, now we know what they were looking for.” the older girl, Franzi, spoke up, and she acted before her mind caught up with her mouth.

"Please don't hurt me.” she begged, and both girls blinked at her, horror washing over their faces, realization flickering alive in their eyes.

"You escaped, you escaped from them.” Ali gasped quietly and went to crawl closer, but Franzi held her back, her sister, now where they were in plain sight, the similarity was easy to see on their faces.

If the fear hadn't gripped her heart so tight, she would have felt sadness at the still so fresh loss of her own.

"We would never hurt you, you hear me. You can trust us. We can get you into safety, if you come with us, you can have a warm place to stay and something to eat. We'll keep you safe.” Franzi's voice turned soothing and almost caring, she felt herself tearing up again, how long had she longed for a simple sign of love and warmth.

"How? How can you keep my safe?” she wanted to know, her body relaxing a little even though the older girl came closer, her sister hot on her heels as they crawled on the dusty ground, from outside the sounds of a car radio blaring rap music became louder.

"Nobody knows where our house is, and we have powerful friends who help us. I can help you if you trust me.” was there a choice, she thought as Franzi repeated her words again, did she have a choice, she wanted to live, she needed to live to keep her promise to her lost sister, she couldn't disappoint her, not now, not ever.

And even though she wasn't completely convinced that those unknown strangers wouldn't sell her out the first chance they got, she nodded, taking the offered hand of the older girl and letting herself be pulled from her dark corner.

"Christ, you’re only skin and bones.” Franzi pointed out as she let herself fall against the other girl's chest, too weak to fight, too lost to argue, her body gave up as her mind realized that this was her only chance at finding peace.

"Ali, keep an eye on her, she is weak, and who knows when she has eaten last. I'm gonna call for help.” her own brown eyes saw the younger sister roll her eyes as she was shifted into thinner arms, Franzi shot her sister a glare as she already pulled the cell phone from her pocket.

Some seconds later she had dialled someone on speed dial and had placed the call on speaker, it rang twice before it was picked up.

"What happened?” a male voice questioned with a hard edge to it, Franzi sighed, it looked as though she somehow felt weary of that question, pulling up a hand she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"We're in slight trouble, need some help.” she answered in a clear and calm voice, Ali snorted for the first time, her whole body moving as the sarcastic sound was pushed through her nose, the unknown boy or man was quiet for a moment, and when he spoke it was with no small amount of anger.

"Where are you?” he demanded to know and it was Ali who told him about their hiding place as an annoyed look had crossed over her older sister's features.

"Café Corner at the edge of the Death Zone.” the young girl said before Franzi could have even opened her mouth, she herself could only watch, too tired suddenly to do anything else, her body had rested too long, it was given in to the call for sleep now.

"What the fuck are you doing there again?” the boy, he definitely sounded young enough to still be a boy, almost snarled into the phone, but then took a deep breath, the sound clear for them to hear, "I'm coming.” and the phone went dead.

"He'll be here in a few minutes.” Franzi smiled at her as she pushed the phone back into her pants, sitting back against the broken fridge under the counter, "I'll answer every single one of your questions when we're safe, I promise. For now, my name is Franzi and this is Ali.” she pointed to her sister who was still holding her upright, "What is your name?"

"Julie.” it was hard to work her lips around her name, she hadn't used it herself in a long time, and no one had called her by her given name for even longer, she had just been a number.

"Well, Julie.” the older girl smiled at her again, even more genuine and warm then, "Welcome to the Sandsnakes."

Part II

A Royal Court at the Brink of War

In the third story of the white house, the biggest room at the end of the long corridor was kept in utter darkness, blinds rolled over the windows, a blanket pushed in front of the small gap under the door to keep the light from the corridor from slipping in.

Dark and silent, the room perfectly mirrored its inhabitant's mood. Like a statue, the blond boy was sitting behind his desk, back straight, hands on the keyboard of the laptop in front of him.

The laptop whose screen was showing a video, almost as dark as the room around it, a single figure was standing in front of a dark grey wall, his hood pulled so far into his face that it was entirely covered in darkness, and when he spoke it was with a voice so pitched, it didn't sound human anymore.

"Some people like to win. Some hate to lose. I like to play. Play games. A long time has passed, but I did not forget what this school, this place of pathetic lies and betrayal, did to me, what it turned me into. People like you will pay for what you think you are, Logan Wright. When I am done getting revenge, the streets will be tainted in your family's blood, and those who dare to stand with you will find their heads spiked on spears around it. There are no self-pronounced kings able to stop me, no leaders I will kneel to.

My name is the Ghost. Dalton will burn, and I will start with you, and everyone who thinks sacrificing themselves for their wrong king's untainted life."

The video ended abruptly and the player flickered back to half its size, light flooded the area around the desk and illuminated the blond boy's face for the first time, and from a pale face hardened green eyes stayed focused on the screen, as if the video was still playing.

And for him, it did, for him the message played ever on, it didn't let him sleep, it didn't let him think, it had found its way into his mind and was festering there like a disease.

Logan barely made a sound as his right hand reached up to click on the audio file in the left corner of his home screen and it staid hovering over the small audio player as the speakers started the words from anew.

"Some people like to win. Some hate to lose. I like to play. Play games.” his finger stopped the file, and he scrolled back, "Some people like to win. Some hate to lose. I like to play. Play games.” and on and on the game went, scroll back, play, scroll back again, play.

His face was a mask, he couldn't show emotions, couldn't show how much this was pulling him under its spell, he could never show weakness again. His pale face staid unmoving while the words were repeated again and again, even though his ears heard nothing else anymore these days. The dark bags under his eyes a witness to the many sleepless nights he had spent sitting at his desk, trying to find the solution to this riddle, trying a way to end the threats.

I like to play. Play games. I like to play. Play games. I like to play. Play games.

His eyes as always were the only part of him not able to hide the anger, the fury over not knowing who was playing them like fools, the urge to rip someone apart for daring to question his position was so strong at times that even his two closest friends were starting to get scared of him.

He was an eighteen year old boy, but hadn't been allowed to just be a child for almost as long as he could remember, he had always been part of a bigger master plan. A master plan that had ended in complete nothingness the day his father had died, now he was left alone again to pick up the pieces.

People like you will pay for what you think you are, Logan Wright. Logan Wright. Wright. Wright.

Logan sighed and dragged a hand over his face as the audio file ended once again and his eyes started itching, his body betraying him once again as it called for rest. A rest he couldn't give himself, and so he clicked onto the video again and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the desk, letting his face fall into his open palms.

I will start with you.

He was a King now, had been for almost two years. A king had people to look after. A king had duties to fulfil. A king had power. And power came with a price.

"My name is the Ghost. Dalton will burn."

One story further down one of Logan's closest confidants was lost in his own thoughts as he stood leaning against the railing of the luxurious balcony, added to the second story of Stuart House. His mind was not any less troubled than the King's, but his concerns grew larger than obsession over a threatening video message.

Brown eyes were focused on the giggling nine year old girl who was kicking the ball in the small tree sheltered backyard of Stuart House, a hedge surrounding it and keeping anyone from being able to step into the garden without being seen. And even if someone was daring enough, the little girl with the brown hair in pigtails was playing ball with two of the most ruthless members of the Kingsguard whose most important duty at the moment was to protect the two youngest members of their kingdom.

And one of them was his nine year old sister.

His innocent baby sister thrown into a world of chaos, a brokered peace that was so shattered that a single brush too strong could break it down completely. Amanda squeaked as Marcus cheated and lifted her off her feet so Cyrus could kick the ball out from under her feet, her laughter bubbled up to Derek's ears and he didn't even get aware of the small smile on his face.

She was the only truly happy person in this house anymore. Ever since the video had arrived and the cloud of doom of settled over their king's head.

For two years Derek had been able to keep Dalton from being at war, he alone had talked Logan out of attacking Windsor so many times that he had lost count ages ago. He had met with Houston countless times to broker a peace between their houses, but it was all for nothing now.

Had been for nothing since weeks. Ever since that day when...

"Don't think about it.” he chided himself out loud, nothing could change what happened, and funny enough it had been Logan who had stopped an open war, Logan who not three days before had been willing to burn Windsor House to the ground.

Sighing, Derek dragged a hand over his face, he was tired, there were days where he felt older than he was, he couldn't even remember a time anymore where the country had not been a feral piece of shit. With them right in the middle.

If he had had a chance, he would have chosen differently, he would have kept his best friends from the throne, would have kept them far away from it and the destruction it brought upon its owner and everyone close to him. But there had been nothing he could have done to stop it, Logan and Julian had chosen for him, they had forced him to fall into step with them as their ascension plans got revealed, and suddenly he had been fighting for more than just his life.

If he had a chance, he would throw it all away, take his sister and go away. But he couldn't.

He had a king to keep under control. He had a Captain of the Kingsguard to keep in line. He had to keep Logan from falling too far into the obsession over the death threats, keep him from burying himself in his vengeance plans. He had to keep Julian from making any more mistakes, keep him from falling too deep into the addiction.

He had a Kingsguard to remind to keep loyal to their captain, had to keep reminding them what their true jobs were when their captain was too preoccupied with himself again. He had a troubling and loud bunch of young boys unable to sit still and watch the injustice being done to their house.

He had to make sure Austin was prepared for his role, had to make sure he knew what was going on without seeing anything of it himself. He had to be the stern, the warm, the comforting, and the best brother for his sister because there was no one else for her anymore.

He had to. No choice. No alternative. He didn't want to do any of it, but he had to.

Derek knew he was the only one standing between peace and war. He was the only one keeping Dalton from burning to the ground.

He watched as Marcus knelt down so Amanda could climb upon his shoulders, Derek's second in command then walked over to the old oak tree and helped Amanda onto the thickest branch, she giggled again. Upon looking up, she caught his eyes and laughed, waving at him, and he found himself waving back without even asking his body to do so. It was instinct by now, to keep her away from the dark thoughts ailing his mind.

Amanda was distracted again when Cyrus appeared next to her and proceeded to help her climb further up, and Derek heard a throat being cleared behind him.

"Bailey.” he spoke in a silent greeting as the younger boy stepped onto the balcony and came to stand three two feet behind him, "What is it?” they barely talked about good things anymore and Derek wasn't in the mood to jump around the point.

"Julian was supposed to be back an hour ago.” Bailey's voice was worried and Derek envied and pitied him for his still working emotions.

"Julian is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, and as long as Logan doesn't realize it, we're all out of the line of fire as well.” they both glances up at the third story, where the last window on the right was the only one with the blinds rolled down.

"When was the last time you talked to him?” even if he had wanted to give an answer, he couldn't, because he couldn't remember the last time he had talked to his king, his friend, the only one daring to confront Logan at the moment was a boy so unstable himself that it was walking disaster.

"Send Nick and Jason out to look for Julian.” Bailey nodded and disappeared again, silent as always, so Derek was left standing alone again, watching his sister playing once more.

He was Hand of the King now, had been for almost two years. A Hand of the King had a kingdom to take care of. A Hand of the King had duties to fulfil with his wisdom. A Hand of the King had responsibility. And responsibility came with a price.

No choice.

Darkness was already creeping over the sky as the brunet boy in the black hoodie jumped over the brown fence that separated Stuart's territory from Windsor's in the far east of Dalton's grounds. It was a shortcut that he used frequently to spare himself the awkward shuffling through the small river that separated Stuart and Lancaster not far from here.

It would have been the easier and safer route, because Lancaster wasn't the enemy, but he had laziness and the high urge to not get wet on his side, and an insane amount of recklessness, where was the fun in it if you didn't take any risks.

The Windsors weren't patrolling this part of their territory anyway, they were too focused on the open front line, their mistake, his fortune. He had an easier time glaring down his own men when they dared to question his delay than explaining to Paige's guards why he was hours behind schedule again in crossing their land.

Julian knew he was running on thin ice, and that had his situation been slightly different, he would have already been dead months ago, but as it was, he was still alive, and still betraying his friends almost every second week.

And because of what? Because he was weak, and selfish, he wasn't brave, would never be strong enough to get away from the drugs, not even the country falling into the abyss was able to change that, why would a lecture from Derek about loyalty change it now?

He knew everyone was whispering about Logan and him, his men were talking about his strength behind his back, questioning his true loyalty, he had also heard some of them ask why they should follow a captain who wasn't even able to hold his gun steady on some days.

Cursing under his breath, Julian looked at his shaking hands, willing his body to stop being so weak and demanding, if he cared what others thought about him, it would have hurt to have people standing below him talk this insulting about his position.

But Julian had stopped caring quite some time ago.

What he was doing was betrayal at its best, treason was more like it. And his king had killed people for less, Stuarts among them. Julian knew Logan had killed people for speaking out against him. And still, here he was, alive as always, coming back from buying drugs from the enemy when he should have been on a simple mission to get information from the Snakes.

Here he was, sneaking in as the night came closer, instead of helping Derek with dragging Logan out of his maniac obsessing over the Ghost. Instead of listening to Derek so that his friend would not keep all his worries inside, instead of keeping watch over his men to assure they were doing their job right.

No, he was betraying Logan's trust once again, using the blond king's distraction to get away with his mistakes. It was only a question of time until he had to face the consequences.

"Julian!” snapping his head up, Stuart's best sniper caught sight of two of his men calmly walking towards him, and he tried to busy his hands to keep the trembling from showing.

"What?” he wanted to know once they were close enough, Nick winced, but Jason held his look and held up his right arm where a watch peaked out from the sleeve of his leather jacket.

"You're a little late.” Stuart's second sniper spoke out the obvious and Julian barely managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes, instead he glared at both boys.

"I ran into some difficulties. Where is Derek?” Jason huffed, but it was sweet and still loyal Nick who answered him, there were still enough boys without a spine.

"Bailey didn't tell, he gave us the order to look for you, it came directly from Derek.” insufferable mother hen, Julian seethed in his head, not softening the glare of his brown eyes, he fixed Nick and Jason with all the fury he was able to conjure up with the exhaustion in his bones.

"You are on patrol?” both of them nodded immediately, "Do your fucking jobs and keep out of my missions.” he snapped at them with venom dripping from his tongue, and Nick almost jumped while Jason only straightened up, and after another pointed look from Julian, both Kingsguard members vanished into the dark again to run the perimeter.

Shouldering his own rifle again from where he had dropped it to keep the weight from wearing him down even more, Julian continued to make his way back to Stuart House. He managed to slip inside without being seen, at least until he stepped onto the third floor.

Derek was waiting for him in front of his door, arms crossed over each other, brown eyes judging him from head to toe, and if his phone hadn't started ringing in that moment, Julian knew he would have been in for a long talk again. Derek always knew where he went.

Derek always knew when he had betrayed them again to get more stuff from the twins.

He was Captain of the Kingsguard now, had been for almost two years. A Captain of the Kingsguard had a king to protect. A Captain of the Kingsguard had duties to fulfil with his gun. A Captain of the Kingsguard had loyalty. And loyalty came with a price.

But he couldn't stop.

 

All credit for the non-OC characters goes out to CP Coulter and her amazing story Dalton, and of course to the writers of Glee


	2. Chapter 1

Act I: A King and a Kitten

Part I: Nothing Good Ever Happens on a Monday

Ironically (or predictably, depending on how you saw things like that) the path into doom started on a Monday morning - nine a.m. Eastern time to be precise. It had been a warm and sunny early summer morning on the east coast, and the streets of Washington D.C. were still busy with the usual workday traffic, and especially around the Pentagon and the White House men and women were still rushing to work.

Groups of students were being carted off of busses, and assembled into controllable lines by their teachers to make their way into one of the museums or the cabinet itself. Young mothers were pushing their strollers along the pavement to grab a second breakfast in one of the cosy little cafes, a small group of university students passing them on their morning run.

All in all, it had looked like any other Monday morning, and no one was even thinking about how much it would change soon enough as a deep roar cut through the air. With the dark clouds edging closer from the coast, it was easy to understand why so many people didn't think twice about it, just expecting a thunderstorm to interrupt the beautiful summer weather.

Half an hour later Washington laid in ruins with not a single house standing anymore, and as the dust settled and the smoke started to clear out, one million people were dead and thousands more were injured.

The country was in shock.

Numbed. Paralyzed. Frozen. And nobody had any idea that the worst was yet to come.

The military rushed to the former capital at the same time that hundreds of hospitals and fire stations in the Columbia district send every available man and woman to help Washington's people, but the streets were blocked, bridges collapsed, and for 368 children in the most central elementary school they were too late as the fire burned through the basement doors.

For 208 people that lay bleeding and broken on the DC streets, they were too late and those 208 would die before the ambulances had even left the city borders.

And those lucky enough to survive were faced with having lost everything, from loved ones to everything they had owned.

News spread like wildfire, of the terror attack, of the bombs, of the dead cabinet and a felled president, and not even two hours after the first roar had sounded over Washington the entire country was wide awake and terrified.

Emergency plans were called into action, but without much success, no one had been prepared to lose the capital and almost the entire government with one strike, and more was yet to come.

Fifteen. Another number, another simple fact for the history books that nobody in America itself would write about this day anymore.

At three p.m. Eastern time, fifteen bombs exploded in Manhattan's financial centre, killing 260,000 more and bringing America completely to its knees. And suddenly all that was left was silence. For twelve hours the entire country stood still, too shocked about the loss of their very core.

The military stepping up the next day seemed like a blessing, but when that middle aged grey haired general stepped in front of the cameras, it quickly became clear that things would change, but not necessarily for the better.

He didn't take control in his calmly presented speech, did not place the country under military leadership and protection, but instead directed his cold blue eyes into the camera and called every man and woman to arms to defend their own. And with these words, spoken in his flat and truly unemotional voice, he pushed the country into chaos.

And right here we turn our eyes back towards a town in Ohio, close to its state capital.

Derek Seigerson had been sick that fateful Monday, a simple cold had dared to affect the young criminal, and as had always been the case with him, he hadn't been able to sleep properly once his throat had felt like sandpaper. He had dragged himself into the common room of Stuart House before the sun had really been able to lighten the day, hours before his two companions usually woke up.

He was alone when the news channels switched to Washington and for several minutes he was unable to believe what the cameras were showing him. He had seen a lot of violence, he had killed people before, had seen people tortured, but those pictures from the ruins of their capital sent chills through even his blood.

Acting on complete autopilot, he had hurried back up to the third story and had woken his friends and some other Stuarts, and only minutes later almost the entire house had stared in paralyzed shock at the TV. But it hadn't really hit home until the bombs had gone off in New York City some hours later, and many of them had rushed off to call their families, criminal youths or not, they had loved ones.

Logan was the only one who caught the worried glance Derek sent towards one of the guards in the corridors, and even though he was busy texting himself, he sat down next to his confidant and leaned in to whisper, hiding his face behind Julian's shoulder, who was still watching the news.

"We should keep an eye on them. They could easily use this to take control and have some fun." Derek nodded, it wasn't exactly a secret how some of the guards despised them, would prefer nothing else but to get rid of them forever. "Nothing good ever happens on a Monday." was Logan's flat comment as the news speaker started crying suddenly at the same time that his phone buzzed with an incoming message. "Austin is alive."

The atmosphere shifted even more in the following hours, the higher the number of the deaths rose, the louder the whispers between the guards became, and it wasn't until darkness slowly crept over them that Logan appeared in Derek's doorway, Julian at his back.

"Come in," he called out to them, but Logan shook his head, nudging his chin towards the black jacket thrown over a chair in the corner of Derek's room.

"You're coming with us.” was the short reply, and the brunet boy raised an eyebrow, challenging his blond friend to elaborate, but before he could speak, Marcus appeared next to Julian.

"I got it open.” he told them, Derek got to his feet in open confusion as Logan and Julian nodded, satisfied, "Cy is spreading them as we speak." the bronze skinned boy with the dark hair explained while Derek slipped into his jacket.

"What are you...." but before he could have finished his bewildered question, Logan waved at him to keep silent, pulled him into the corridor and pushed a gun into his hand. His gun. The very same weapon the guards had taken from him after their last inside fight, the one where...

"Keep an eye on them! Call the second anything changes!" Marcus nodded at Logan's harsh words and then he slipped back into his room right next to Derek's, the room he would abandon soon for someone else, but they didn't know about their future pearl to protect then. It was Julian who dragged him down the corridor and into Logan's room, while the blond followed them with long strides.

They sneaked out of the window and climbed down the old oak tree, their black shoes not making a sound as they reached the ground. It was eating at him to say something, to demand an explanation, his head was throbbing with the remains of his cold, but Derek somehow managed to keep silent as they tracked through the darkness of the grounds, skilfully evading the guards on patrol, and when they reached their goal, his last attempt at getting something out of his friends was shot into the wild as Charlie Amos stepped out from behind the edge of Main.

"Wright." he greeted in a cold voice, behind him Anderson and Houston shortly nodded their heads, and Derek realized with a jolt what was going on, he blamed the cough medicine for making his head so slow. He shot a quick look to Julian behind Logan's back and sepia eyes glared right back at him, flashing with a sign of "Finally, you got it".

Riley Paige joined them with his brother and Blake at his side, Justin Bancroft came with Willis and Abbott. They sealed Dalton's fate and their own that night, standing on what would later become part of a neutral ground zone, surrounding the buildings of Main and South.

And not even ten hours later, their plan would be set in motion as the speech of the general went viral and the first warning shots of the guards rang out over the grounds, but they were prepared, and three hours later, as chaos simultaneously broke out in several major cities across the country, Derek found himself panting on his knees as the last guard dropped dead on Stuart's front steps, Logan's gun still raised.

They were dead. All 112 of them. And thanks to their plan not a single Dalton boy had died. Thanks to Logan's reckless jump from the second story balcony not a single Stuart beside himself had even got hurt.

Julian was jumping over a destroyed car as Logan grimaced and lowered his right arm again, he had twisted his shoulder in his stupid attempt at drawing attention away from the younger boys and the adrenaline could only hide as much. Derek pushed away his own exhaustion after two nights of no sleep and walked over to his friends as the rest of their house assembled in front of Stuart.

The silence was strange in its suddenness, no more screaming, no more cries, no more shooting. It lasted for about a minute, but then a voice cut through it.

"Logan!” Cyrus called into the air that smelled like blood and gun powder, "Logan!" he repeated again and green eyes looked up in half annoyance and half confusion as Derek finally reached him and Julian, who was already cutting off Logan's sleeve to look at his quickly bruising shoulder.

More voices joined Cyrus in his calls, and soon almost every boy was yelling their Wing leaders name. "What the fuck are they doing?" the blond between his two brunet friends wanted to know, but they didn't have to think of an answer because Marcus made it crystal clear in the next second what the other boys had been up to while their leaders had met with their rivals.

"King Logan!” it hailed from his throat and dozens more chimed in.

They started it, but the others were quick to follow in naming their own kings. And from one moment to the other, rivals became enemies. Because when you lose the outer threat, you certainly have a lot of time to focus on other things again.

Like how much Stuart wanted to see Windsor dead and vice versa.

Four Kings. Two with a serious wish to see the other hanging from a spear. One who only wanted peace. And one who would not show his true colours for almost two years. It was a miracle that the war between the four houses kept on being pushed back as far as it did until it eventually became too much, and the fires of fury swept over Dalton again.

Borders and territories were agreed over after much debating and they were guarded like high profile mansions now. There were spies everywhere, and leaders were discussing allies under the hand.

But for almost one year they managed to somehow coexist with each other without beheading the other one on every possible confrontation, and it wasn't until the atmosphere in America turned even darker that things got more heated in Dalton again.

Gangs had taken over in the first year after the terror attack, the militia was ruling the West Coast, the military was fighting over control for the East Coast, but no one gave a damn about the middle, no one stopped the slave traders from taking girl after girl until every woman from North to South was living in terror and fear.

There were no more states, the country having been cut into small districts, thousands of gangs keeping a fierce grip onto their territory, whole groups of human traffickers sold women and girls to high bidders in the Middle East and Africa, and when one of them set up a camp outside of Westerville, Dalton got involved.

Unspoken laws and rules swept over the country, women and girls lost their last names, had to be claimed by accepted leaders or they would be declared free for the taking, and they weren't able to stop any of it.

They tried, they tried fighting against it, each king on his own, with a group of loyal boys behind them, but they couldn't hold Westerville as the tanks came. Many people died, 5000 in Westerville alone, three dozen girls from their sister school were lost, taken, betrayed, those who survived found shelter in one of the four kingdoms, fled, or went into hiding.

How things settled down again, no one knew exactly, but they didn't really have a choice, with many of their parents slaughtered or kidnapped, most of their contacts and supporters were gone, they were truly on their own, and it was the easier and healthier way to focus on their own survival instead of running head first into a fight they couldn't win.

They were a kingdom, each group of them, bound together by the honour of their houses. Bound together by the loyalty to their kings. Four young men who were faced with much more responsibility on their shoulders than they should have ever had.

For one king, it wasn't solely about principles and house honour anymore. For the blond boy with the tantalizing green eyes, it had gotten personal some weeks ago.

The video had been found on his laptop without anyone having the slightest idea on how it could have ended up there, but even though the question would be burning at the back of his mind for a long time, once he and his friends had seen the content, other things became more important.

Certain things like the bounty on his head.

Or the open death threat against those standing by him.

Seven weeks later, Logan Wright still has no idea who the Ghost could be, but he has two more scars to tell the story of how he met the group of mercenaries that worked for him. Trained and ruthless men, almost assassins who have nothing to lose, but who had also not expected to meet a group of boys with almost the same view on life.

Logan's black list contained 9 names so far, the top ten beneath the Ghost. There were other men in this group, none of them having a name to their faces, none of them important enough. Food soldiers. The pawns on the chessboard you sacrificed for the greater good, but these few, they meant something.

The Lord Commander – rumoured to be the Ghost's right hand, famous for killing with a true steel sword, feared for his giant wolf Rhaegar

The Red Viper – famous for lacing his weapons with poison

The Mountain – famous for having smashed in his foe's heads with bare hands

The Dog – a mutilated man famous for having survived a pit of rabid dogs in a Los Angeles gang fight, he killed with almost every weapon he could reach

The Kingslayer – famous for having killed two leaders of previous gangs he had lived among

The Dragonprince – famous for killing with a green fire that was hard to quench

The Prancing Stag – a fat man famous for cutting throat's with daggers cut from the antlers of an elk

The Queen of Roses – famous for her clean murders and leaving behind a single red rose

The Man with many Faces – yeah well, not anymore, Logan thought as he knelt on the dirt outside the old town hall, green eyes focused on the bleeding cut on his knee. The man with many names and faces had been rumoured to be able to own magical powers, but in the end he had died like every other man, pathetic and screaming.

His blood had looked no different from other people Logan had already needed to kill in order to gain the power he had now and to assure he kept his position as Stuart's king, the lives he had to take in order to keep his boys safe.

Pulling the knife from the dead man's neck, Logan looked up and found Marcus pulling a grimacing Derek to his feet not far from him, the three hooded men around them all with bullets in their chests. They had been ambushed on their way back from looking into some intel about the unknown man calling himself Ghost, and Logan had long reached the point where every single small piece of information was worth a fight or two.

"Are you hurt?" he called over to the other two boys, both of them shook their heads, even if a little strained, they were good fighters and with two exceptions the only ones in his closer circle who Logan could truly trust. It wasn't easy anymore, paranoia was eating at him left and right, "Let's get out of here." Getting back to his own feet was easy, but as he dared to make a first step, he had to grit his teeth to keep himself from crying out.

Fucking bastard, he swore internally, had thrown himself from the top of the car and right onto him, getting a good kick in to his knee before rolling away and giving Logan the chance to reach for a knife. Taking another step, he clenched his fist and willed the pain to go away.

Derek met him at the car, Marcus already inside on the backseat, their eyes met and Logan tried to decipher the emotion behind brown orbs, it had gotten more difficult with every passing day to read his two best friends, the more the video message had pushed itself into his mind, the harder it was to keep on trusting anyone but himself.

"Who gave you the hint about this?” he wanted to know in a voice that clearly demanded a quick answer, Derek held his eyes.

"Sources." was the short response, and no matter how much Derek tried to hide it then, Logan was still able to see the guilt, he knew about his mistake, knew that they had been loured into a trap.

"You better think twice about these sources from now on.” a glare from green eyes followed, and then Logan opened the door of the car and sat down behind the wheel, slamming the door shut afterwards.

Derek took a deep breath and sent a quick look into the sky, looking for strength.

It takes them roughly half an hour to drive back to Stuart, and Logan's mood had turned even darker by the time they reached the entrance hall, and Derek honestly couldn’t blame Austin from flinching away when his brother brushed by him on his way to the stairs.

Derek shrugged his shoulders when the younger Wright's blue eyes came to rest on his face, in one hand their crown prince was holding a book, the other one was holding onto Amanda's hand, who was clutching her doll to her chest, brown eyes still staring to where Logan had vanished up the stairs with an obvious limp.

He suspected that Austin had brought Amanda back from her lessons with Bailey, he usually took it upon himself to entertain her, when Cyrus was sleeping after night patrol and Derek was out, something he was eternally grateful for.

Walking over to them, he squeezed Austin's shoulder once, but the younger boy was way too perceptive not to notice that something must have gone wrong, blue eyes narrowed a little. Derek ignored him though in order to crouch down in front of his sister, whose wide eyes flew over the red on his shirt.

"No my blood, Panda." he assured her and just as expected her eyes immediately switched over to Marcus as the other boy came closer, he smiled at her and pushed a strand of hair from her face.

"Not my blood, either, Am.", he promised her and then nodded for Austin to follow him to give them a moment alone, a moment Derek didn't want, he didn't want to have to explain to his sister over and over again that nothing had happened to him, that the blood on him wasn't his own.

"We got attacked, but the bad guys are no more and we are all okay." Amanda furrowed her small brows, but still reached up to wrap her small arms around his neck, doll squished between them, Derek sighed and dropped his face into her hair, and for just a moment he let himself be just her brother, with only her to worry about.

"Is Logan hurt?” her small voice wanted to know, speaking close to his ears, and Derek closed his eyes for a moment, before he picked her up and walked towards the stairs.

"It's just a scratch, Panda. He'll be fine." he hated it, he hated it so much that she sounded so scared, that even as young as she was, she had already understood how their new world was working.

Amanda knew that something bad could have happened to her if Logan had not taken her under his protection. Amanda knew that her brother was the only one keeping them from standing in the middle of a war. Amanda knew that danger was lurking behind almost every dark corner.

And Derek hated it all.

They reached the third story just as Julian came down from the attic, his worried frown quickly turning into a grin for the little girl with the pigtails. Derek set her down again and flicked at her nose, making her glare up at him in a mock reproach.

"Why don't you go and wake Cyrus up, hmm? He slept long enough.", his sister nodded and skipped down the stairs again to get to her guard's room right next to the bottom of the stairs on the second floor. Derek turned to Julian.

"He got stabbed and kicked. Nothing serious I think.", Julian nodded, but still pulled out the first aid kit from where he had been hiding it behind his back, and together they walked towards their king's room.

They take care of Logan's knee in silence, Derek gets a fresh shirt and then it's damage analysis, and they are trying to figure out where it got wrong, how they could have run into this trap without any signs pointing to it. Of course they find no answers, and of course they don't have any new information about the Ghost. It has been like this for weeks, getting tips, finding little strings to latch onto, but then running into empty dead ends.

It's frustrating, and it's not the first time that a fight with one of the mercenaries basically ends in a screaming match between them, it needs to get out. The anger, and even the fear and unease about dealing with something unknown. The fear of chasing after a ghost.

They pick sides most of the time, Derek and Julian trying to go against Logan's temper, Julian and Logan trying to yell down Derek's wish for rational and calm approaches, Logan and Derek trying to fight down Julian's tendency to declare everyone unimportant and disposable. And sometimes, like today, the frustration is just so high that everyone is fighting for their own agendas, it's also the kind of fights that end up being really loud and exhausting.

It leaves them glaring at three different points of the room when it's over, all of them standing, breathing hard, and it's the king who notices their audience first, turning towards the door of his room.

"What is it, Cyrus?” Logan snapped at the young man clad all in black, who was standing in the doorframe of the king's room, Derek and Julian turned around as well.

"They cut off our supply transport.” Julian reached for his gun as Cyrus spoke, his voice as flat and collected as always, Logan tensed next to him, he didn't like it when outside forces dared to interfere with his business.

"Who?” Logan wanted to know, the storm ranging inside of him again, Cyrus nudged his head to the left side of the room, not towards thick red question mark, not towards the strings attached to mercenary names.

"Not his men. Traders.” was the short reply.

Traders. Slave traders. Trash.

Logan glanced at Derek and saw the blazing brown eyes before grabbing his primary gun and pushing past his friends rather roughly, Cyrus was smart enough to step out of the way quickly as his king stormed towards him and the door.

Logan was many things. Cunning, loud, raging, maybe even an asshole but he was not a monster. He fought against the true monsters in this new world. Fought against the men who plugged girls out of the streets like apples from a tree.

"What's the plan?" Julian demanded from the blond boy as he hurried to catch up with him, already slipping into the leather jacket, ignoring the foggy feeling at the back of his mind, another shot would have calmed him down even more, but he had no time now.

Derek and Cyrus followed them down the stairs into the main hall, which was already crawling with Stuarts, but only the Kingsguard was armed.

Green eyes quickly flew over his boys as Logan came to stand on the last few steps of the stairs, Julian stopping by his side, he hadn't really needed to ask the question, it was always the same, do whatever you have to do in order to get the job done. Morals was a thing for someone else, for them the result counted in the end, not the path towards it.

And as Logan spoke, with that dangerous glint in his eyes and the winning smirk, all of them already knew what the words would be, he only said what all of them were thinking, "We're gonna kill some rats." the cheers were imminent and Logan flashed his teeth in a wicked version of his grin, but it fell away quickly again as he turned to the men of the Kingsguard, "Thad, you stay here! Take some boys to guard the house, no one but us gets in! Tell Bailey to keep on eye on Austin and Amanda.” always the same orders, "Cyrus, Nick, Jason, you're with Derek. Marcus, you're coming with us.", all guards nodded, "The rest stays on alert for backup calls." Logan grabbed Julian's wrist when he was finished, dragging him down the stairs and through the mess of boys getting ready, Marcus appearing at their side, "Grab some more ammo, and then fill us in on what Lawrence said on the way. Five minutes, my car!” Marcus nodded and disappeared again.

Once they were out of the house and on their way to the garage, Logan fell silent again, but Julian easily felt the moment his grip tightened on his wrist, fingernails digging into his skin and he swallowed heavy as the garage door came into view.

Behind them the door fell shut and in the next second Julian’s back collided with the bricks as Logan slammed him up against the wall, one hand gripping the front of his leather jacket, pulling the fabric into his fist until the brunet started choking.

“Don’t fuck this up or I swear you will pay for it!” Logan gritted out between his teeth, green eyes filled with pure venom and murder, “What? Nothing from the little princess?” he mocked him as Julian struggled for air. Logan was strong, he had him picked up from the ground easily, Julian’s feet kicking for something to stand on.

Logan only tightened the grip of his fist, his free hand using two fingers to probe against the still not completely healed stab wound on Julian’s right hip.

“You’re hurting me!“ the smaller boy croaked out and for a moment, almost too short to be sure, he saw triumph dance in green eyes before the cold mask slipped back over the blond’s face.

“Good.“, he snapped at him, suddenly pulling him closer until their noses were almost touching, Julian could already see lights blinking at the edge of his darkening vision, “Better get used to it.“ his voice dropped into a low whisper, “Because if you don’t have my back today, there will be a pain you’ve never felt before.“ and in the next second he was crashing to the ground as Logan let go of him, falling together with the moment Marcus chose to step into the garage.

Freezing upon the sight of Logan towering over him, laying on the ground, obviously wheezing for breaths, Julian’s highest ranking guardsman had one hand already on his gun holster, when sepia eyes found his blue ones, and the message in them was clear.

If you value your life, don’t get involved.

It takes them barely half an hour until they have reached the abandoned warehouse that they used as a trading point with the few traders that still dared to drive their trucks through the country, said truck was already on fire as they arrived.

Logan doesn't need more than one look to realize that these people firing on Lawrence and some other boys in the warehouse weren't working for the Ghost, they belonged to the ring of slave traders, probably short on own resources and desperate enough for something to eat to dare and attack them.

Derek and Cyrus arrived with Jason and Nick in the other car only a minute behind them, and with one quick gesture from Logan they started to rush towards the building with the broken windows. They were in the middle of the Death Zone, buildings were in ruins left and right as far as you could look, cars wrecked in the middle of the streets, an everlasting heavy silence reigned over the blocks, no one really knew why.

They had all heard about the rumours of ghosts haunting this area at night, so many people had died, so many innocents had been taken into the camps as the tanks had come.

"Kill them, kill them all. One less savage to kidnap another girl.” Logan seethed as they slowly advanced on the warehouse, from where shots still echoed around, guns drawn.

"Cyrus, Marcus, you take the back exit." both boys nodded and rushed off, their steps quiet on the pavement, Logan looked to the sixteen year old blond boy at Julian's right, Stuart's second sniper straightened up upon noticing his eyes upon him and hazel eyes widened, "Jason, you go up on that ledge there!" he pointed to the old fire escape stairs that led by the office building that had formerly managed the warehouse.

"You'll make sure nothing comes to bite us in the ass.” Derek flawlessly continued Logan's order, Jason nodded quickly, seemingly shrinking under the scrutinizing stare of Stuart's leading trio, "Nick, you keep an eye on our cars. I want a way back once we're done. You never know who might be lurking in the shadows to cut our tires.", they all shared a tense moment of silence in memory of the last time they had thought their exit route to be easy, only to realize too late that someone had slashed their tires.

Back then someone of them had almost died, and a part of Logan was almost thankful that he had already sent the bronze skinned boy away, none of them liked to dwell in the past, but that day would be on their conscience for quite some time still. Derek would think of the hands he pressed onto Marcus chest. Logan would think of the desperate way his hands hurried to wrap the belt around the boy's thigh to keep him from bleeding out. Julian would think of the sixty bullets he shot in order to protect them.

Nick nodded in his usual calmness, he hadn't been with them back then, and slipped away into a darker corner by the cars at the same time that Jason hurried off towards the fire escape. The Trio was left alone and the silence returned doubled as they slowly walked towards the main entrance again, tense, rigid. The moment had come, it was time to see how much he could still rely on both of them, was the last thing Logan thought before they reached the door and Derek raised a foot to kick it open.

The following minutes passed in a quick blur, they stormed into the warehouse, eyes hungrily taking in the statistics, widening slightly when they got aware of how many men had left the camp to raid their resources, even with Jason and Nick outside, they were still outnumbered.

Lawrence had been smart enough to back himself and the other four boys into a corner, so their backs were at least somehow protected, but one quick look and they counted two Stuarts knocked out on the ground, one bleeding from a small wound on his temple, his steps shaky.

Logan nodded for Derek to go left as long as they weren't seen yet and yanked Julian to the right with himself, already aiming his gun at the first shooter. Nobody, especially not Logan, saw how Julian gritted his teeth in order to stop his hands from shaking, three days, he had went too long without another dosage.

It was okay though, for the beginning anyway, they had the surprise effect on their side, Marcus and Cyrus waited to engage until the Trio had drawn the men's attention towards them, and then they surprised and confused them for a second time when shots started to come from a new direction again.

The first slavers fell easily, killed with a single bullet, but they got their own surprise as a second group of 15 men appeared on the second story walkway, and then it evolved into slight chaos. Logan and Julian lost sight of Derek first as he slipped through a door to get to the higher level. Lawrence ran out of bullets and focused his attention on getting the injured boys into a safe room off to the side.

They found themselves hiding behind a fallen over pallet transporter for a moment to catch their breaths, Logan peered back through the gaps over the tires.

"You stay here. I still have a flash grenade...” Logan panted out, Julian gripped his arm and hissed close to his ear before he had even finished his sentence.

"Are you insane? For it to have any effect, you would need to be right in the middle of them. And Marcus and Cyrus are somewhere in there, do you really...” Logan whisked his head around to level him with a hard glare, Julian swallowed heavily without intending to do so.

"I would rather risk them suffer from ringing ears for two days then get slaughtered in here for some packages of rice, meat and some ammunition." his musical voice snapped with venom and he reached up with his left hand to dig his fingernails into Julian's wrist, "I'm going in there, I will throw the flash grenade and you will count to 20 when you see the smoke, and then you shoot.", and then he asked the question that would haunt them for a while after this, "Do you have my back, Julian?"

"Yes." the brunet's response was quick and clear, and green eyes bored into his sepia eyes for a moment until a series of quick shots rang out on the walkway across from them and they saw Derek making his way down it, both hands holding a gun.

"Don't fuck it up." the warning in his words was clear as Logan raised his gun again and jumped back to his feet, firing a round of bullets into the ranks of the hideously dressed men. Julian could only stare as he vanished among them, and for a moment he truly believed his plan would work out, that they would have a chance at stunning them enough for Julian to use his sniper aim to kill most of them with a single bullet.

But luck seemed not be on their side that day.

Logan threw the grenade and as the smoke started pouring into the hall, a hooded figure jumped from the walkway, escaping Derek's grasp, landing with so much grace on the ground right behind Logan that it couldn't have been a simple slave trader. He raised his gun, and Julian could not aim, could not hold his gun steady enough to shoot without endangering Logan, he could only stare as the smoke rose higher and Logan vanished behind it.

His hands shook with tremors. He mind went into overdrive. He had failed.

In the next second two shots rang out into the suddenly silent warehouse.

It seemed like ages until the smoke had lifted enough again for them to see something of the warehouse's centre again, and once they did they had about a split second of seeing Logan on the ground with someone leaning over him, gun still raised towards the fallen body of the hooded jumper, but then Cyrus was the first to make use of the disorientated slavers stumbling around.

His shots shook Julian from his stupor, and he got to his feet and aimed at the closest man, but not before he caught the death glare from disappointed and entirely accusing brown eyes. Derek had seen him and his lack of a reaction.

It's a mindless moment of shots and screams until the last slaver falls and Julian has a chance to whirl around to look for Logan again, he is breathing hard, sweat is pouring down his face, but nothing is able to sober him up like the motionless body of his friend laying in the dirt of the warehouse. Marcus still kneeling over him, Derek by his side, brown eyes glaring at Julian with a fire he had never seen in them before.

Because if you don’t have my back today, there will a pain you’ve never felt before.

"Find Nick, Cyrus. Get the cars inside here. We have too many injured to carry them all out.” Derek commanded when he finally broke eye contact with Julian and turned to the approaching Kingsguard member. Julian slowly stepped over to them.

Logan was unconscious, bleeding from a small scratch on his head that he had probably gotten from his fall to the ground, his chest was rising with steady breaths though, so Julian's hands stopped shaking a little, only the terror trembles went away though, the withdrawal was still gnawing on his every muscle.

And the horror about his own failure was too big to be able to hide it. He knew everyone had seen it, as Lawrence and the other boys joined them, carrying and supporting their injured comrades. Derek was pressing his hand onto Logan's right knee, his fingers bloody, but not alarmingly so that they would have to fear for their king's life here and now.

Thanks to Marcus, not thanks to you, Julian.

Not a word passed between them until Nick and Cyrus pulled open the thick double doors and drove in the cars, Nick already having called for backup so they could make sure their injured boys would not have to be squished onto a backseat.

"Take Logan first. We have to be sure it's really just a graze." Derek had to force the words out between his teeth, and no pair of eyes could avoid looking at Julian, even if some of them only did it for the blink of an eye. Lawrence, Cyrus and Nick took Logan between them and carried him towards his own car, in the same second that Derek jumped to his feet, took two steps towards Julian and raised his fist.

It's a matter of lightening reflexes, something Julian usually was famous for, but right in that moment it is all lost on him, and Derek's punch takes him off his feet. His mind only catches up with the present as he is falling and he rolls to the side to let his shoulder catch his fall, and within the next second he is back on his feet again, snapping his head around to brace himself against the next attack.

But Marcus has both arms pulled around an openly seething and fire spitting Derek, holding him off from going for another punch. Julian raises a trembling hand to wipe the blood off from his cut lip.  
"You were supposed to have our back! Are you fucking losing your mind? Why didn't you freaking shoot?” Derek's screams echoed around the warehouse and for a moment all other boys froze by the cars, until Cyrus levelled them with a hard glare.

Derek wrenched himself from Marcus grasp, but didn't attack Julian again, instead he shot him another disappointed look, one that went right to Julian's bones, freezing him all over again. He had fucked up, he had truly fucked up, he had gone too far, he had let the drugs take control.

He is left alone with Marcus when Derek stormed off, throwing himself behind the wheel of Logan's car and gesturing for Cyrus and Nick to get in with him. Lawrence took the keys of the second car from Cyrus, getting behind the wheel of the black Volvo.

Derek lowered his window when he turned the car around to drive back onto the road, he looked towards them again, but only seemed to see Marcus.

"You wait until the back-up takes the other two and Jason, and then you make sure that one gets back without any interruptions or visits.” he spits the last word out as though it pained him and it probably did.

He drove off without giving Julian another glance. He had never seen his friend this angry before. His fate was in the hands of a boy with an unpredictable temper now, because the last person who had dared to protect him from the line of green eyed fire was surely not going to do it any longer.

"You know, Julian." Marcus calmly spoke up as they were alone with the two injured second line soldiers, Jason still standing guard outside the warehouse, and Julian turned to him and raised an annoyed eyebrow, no need to rub it in even deeper, but the dark haired boy smirked, "You can be happy I value my life so little that I decided to get involved."

"You are aware Derek just ordered you to walk me home. It'll take us hours! And you are not even slightly peeved that you get punished along with me? Confused on why Derek is making you do this?", he did what he always did when he was uncomfortable with a topic, he changed course, swung the attack around on the other person, it usually worked, never really with Logan, but on everyone else it usually worked.

Not today with Marcus.

"Derek makes me walk you back home, because frankly, I'm the only one he trusts to do so." Marcus moved away to look over the two injured younger boys, Julian glared at his back.

"And what makes you think you will be able to keep me in check?” he quipped right back and Marcus answered without looking back at him, quick and cunning.

"Because I won't hesitate to hurt the king's favourite little precious kitten."

Six hours and a walk in tense silence later, Julian arrived back at Stuart and was directly escorted by Cyrus and Thad to his room, and told to stay and wait there. No word about Logan.

Half an hour later Marcus and Cyrus got him and took him to Logan's room at the end of the corridor, they pulled him into the room and pushed him towards the couch, with a roughness that surprised Julian a little, even though he would never show it, no one usually dared to treat him this way right in front of their king.

Yeah but usually you are not to blame for his majesty almost dying.

Logan was laying on his bed, a bandage wrapped around his head, he was a little paler and looked exhausted, but green eyes completely refused to look his way after Julian had sat down on the couch, and over all the present exhaustion in the room, Logan's fury was like a fire burning under the carpet, only waiting to be unleashed.

Bailey was still finishing up on Logan's knee and the fact that he did it with calm hands told Julian that it truly was only a graze and nothing more serious, otherwise Logan would have seen a hospital by now, there was only so much Bailey could do for their injuries. When he was done, he pressed a bottle with pills into Logan's hand and left without another word, he was always eager to keep out of their quarrels. Derek told Marcus and Cyrus to wait outside the door and to not let anyone come into hearing distance, and as the door fell shot they were alone.

Julian lost the patience game first.

"It won't heal faster if you keep on staring at it. Your body won't cower like everyone else.” the smooth voice of the brunet boy sitting on the couch across from him rang out over the ongoing silence in the room, they hadn't spoken a word since Bailey had patched Logan up.

"Don't strain your welcome in this room, Larson.” Stuart's leader seethed, head not turning to look away from his injured knee.

"So we're back to last names again? I'm feeling offended, Wright.", if there was one thing Julian never learned, then it was to keep quiet in important moments, it's how he had gotten that scar on the back of his neck, and more were sure to follow if he never changed.

"How about you shut up, Julian?” Derek mixed himself into their pissing contest, arms crossed over his chest where he was leaning against the desk of the blond boy.

"Why are you...", Julian immediately protested, sepia eyes glaring at the other brunet, the side of his face was still red, it would probably start to bruise in no time, Derek had thrown a lot of strength into that one punch.

Logan eyed both of them and the little voice in his head would not stop whispering to him about having lost both of their loyalty. Could he still trust them? Hadn't Julian just proven that he couldn't? You could have died, Logan, his mind reminded him of actions that laid back barely seven hours, you could have died because Julian did not shoot.

"You were supposed to shoot before that man could!” Derek's loud snarl shook him from his thoughts, and he could see how Julian tried to hide his flinch, but with no success, well, at least he could still feel the guilt, but it disappeared quickly again to make place for the arrogant diva.  
"Logan said 20 seconds, I counted.” was the weak defence Julian provided them with, Derek and Logan both raised an eyebrow.

"You saw him pull the trigger back! He acts, you take the shot! What is the fucking enigma in that?" Derek continued to yell, knuckles turning white with the effort he took him to hold onto the desk and not attack the Captain of the Kingsguard again, he knew Logan wouldn't appreciate it.

"Leave us alone, Derek.” Logan's voice is cold and controlled, quiet, everything the boy behind it is not, and Derek doesn't hesitate when he gets to his feet and leaves the room without sending another look towards the other brunet in the room, he closes the door behind himself.

And Julian knows he is in trouble before green eyes even looked at him.

"You didn't do your job.” the accusation is simple, not really filled with any emotions and maybe that's why it cuts right through the former actor, and sepia eyes turn away from green ones as he starts to defend himself, defend himself for nothing.

"I counted on your orders. I fucking followed your orders and did my job like you wanted me to."

"Oh yeah, followed my orders!" Logan suddenly thundered, voice raised, green eyes blazing with fire and Julian knew the blond knew about his secret, there was no denying anymore, Logan knew and was finally ready apparently to act on it, "Is that what you call it when you take their stuff? I took you with me today on the trust that you would have our backs, would have MY back! You didn't! You were too busy drugged out of your mind to keep focus on what was going on!"

"What are you gonna do, lock me...” Julian actually laughed, a little hysterical laugh that had Logan narrow his eyes even more, he bared his teeth.

"Yes."

"You rely on me too much for that. You wouldn't dare go out without me, not until the Ghost is found." Julian was grasping onto the last straws, was trying to talk himself out of the gutter again, his mouth and tongue his last weapon, but Logan was too pissed, and he was decided as well, had been for weeks already, he had just needed a true reason to present to the rest of his boys.

"Watch me.", Logan calmed his voice again and spoke with that returning emotionless coldness, Julian snapped his head around to look at him again, and Logan felt some kind of satisfaction upon seeing the start of unease in brown eyes.

"You wouldn't dare.” he even sounded unsure all of a sudden and was like the greedy monster in Logan was suddenly singing in joy, an afraid little kitten, wasn't that glorious.

"I can keep on fighting without you. And I am not going to lose one of these boys because your hands are shaking too much to pull a fucking trigger! Don't think you are something special, Julian. You are all a part of my chessboard, and I can choose my toys like I want to. I'm gonna make it easy for you, it's either their drugs or your life, the cell will give you time to choose. You do remember the nice little cell we found a year ago? A pretty good place for someone to sober up. A good place where even the twins won't find you.” his words were final and with a hard knock on the wall next to his bed, the door opened again and Marcus and Cyrus stepped into the room, "Take him. Disarm him and then take him to where we talked about. No word will be spoken until he is locked away."

With a grimace on his face, Logan got to his own feet and walked over to the window, sending one last look towards Julian, one that both guards weren't able to see, a look that was filled with more disappointment than Julian had ever seen in someone's face. For just a split second it hadn't been a betrayed and furious king looking at him, for just that short moment, it had been his hurt friend, but the moment passed and Logan's face hardened again and green eyes looked out of the window into the dark night.

"If he resists or starts to fight, take measures to stop him.” it was the last thing Julian would hear from him for days, and then Marcus and Cyrus took him away.

Logan was left alone for an hour, alone with his thoughts, alone with the voices in his head, and it isn't until Austin shortly slips into the room to say goodnight and to see for himself that he was better that he breaks out of it.

He pats his brothers back and watches him leave the room again, passing Derek in the doorway, and a moment later it's just them again, and when the brunet closes the door, Logan turns around to stare out of the window again.

Can you trust him? Who can you trust?

"They are confused, I believe they have many questions. I still think you should have waited to let them take Julian away until the house slept." Derek's voice was warm and wise, but to Logan's eyes it sounded cutting, like the lulling voice of a snake ready to strike, "Just as much as I believe it would have been a wise choice to get help at this point. There are people out there really into killing you, Logan." the blond tensed, leaning heavily on his good leg, but his stubbornness still refused him to sit down, to show any kind of weakness.

"We can't do this alone anymore. What if...", but Logan didn't let Derek finish, instead his voice interrupted him, cold, unforgiving.

"So you want me to crawl to my enemies, beg for their help in finding the Ghost? Letting my enemies help me find the man who wants me dead? Why don't we just send Windsor the video message, and then present them my head on a plate so they have it easy when they betray me after all. What a good plan, Derek.” the sarcasm was almost enough to let Derek roll his eyes.

"I...." but Logan whirled around so fast that the words got stuck in Derek's throat, and the urge to reach for a knife grew in him as the full power of green eyed fury was unleashed upon him.

"You are not the one giving me orders. You are here to make sure my orders are seen through. Don't get your duties mixed up. Derek.” Logan spoke in that low voice that he knew set everyone's hairs on edge, the one voice that had even Julian's arms raise goose bumps.

"They were our brothers once. When we fought against...." Derek knew he couldn't give up, knew that even if it meant getting punched or cut he had to push on, there had never been any other way to make Logan see reason, especially not in this.

"When we fought off the guards, don't think I'm stupid, Derek.” Logan sneered, his eyes not once looking away from the other boy, "But they weren't our brothers then, they aren't our brothers now. We fought against a common enemy because we had to save our lives, that doesn't even make us allies. Come on, use your head.” ending his sentence with a flippant gesture towards the two Kingsguards at the door, he had them hurrying to get out of the room, the door flying shut behind them.

Derek braced himself and couldn't help the way his whole body tensed up for a fight when Logan walked closer until he was standing right in front of him, leaning down to whisper close to his ears.  
"You are Hand of the King. I am your King. It would be wise to not make me question your loyalty again.” the threat was heavy on his tongue as Logan straightened up again and brushed by him, fully intending to have him stumble back a step, and his voice rang around the room as he walked towards the map on the wall.

"You know quite well what happens to those who do."

They die.

Logan reached up and plugged the horse magnet from the map, where it had previously sat over Charlie Amos name, a "My little Pony" magnet to ridicule the sigil he had chosen for his family name, there was still some humour left in him.

His fingers turned the horse over and over again, while his eyes swept over the map on the eastern wall of his room, it was a map of Dalton's grounds. Julian had drawn the territory borders for him, months ago, a prank back then, meant to rile him up after he had brooded over their situation for days again. It had ended in Logan taking Julian right against that wall.

Now, it was practical, pictures of boys with important names had been taped to the right coloured puzzle piece, a token to represent their sigils added afterwards, strings were attached between Windsor and Hanover, showing the alliance that both of their kings still openly denied, but they didn't know that Logan had managed to throw out his own strings by then. For now though green eyes were narrowed onto the black string that connected the Black Panther next to Julian's name with the pink flower of the twins, his fingers tightened around the horse's neck.

"Bread and water. Twice a day.” he could hear how Derek snapped his head up to stare at his back, "Milo can do it, Julian doesn't like him. He gets a key, but make sure he understands that no one but him is permitted to step foot into the basement.” he gritted his teeth, "No one else but me."

The horse's neck snapped in two.

Across Stuart's territory, at the far edge to be precise, stood an old but still well preserved brick building, having formerly belonged to Westerville's police station, it had long ago housed the town's prison before it had gotten too expensive and they had sourced their prisoners out to be jailed in Columbus.

The dark building had since been empty, but the town council had made sure it had been constantly kept in perfect condition as its status as one of Westerville's oldest building. As far as Stuarts knew, most information coming from local Lancaster boys, it dated back to the times of the first men settling down in these lands.

25 cells lined up next to each other, and what had appealed to Logan even more was the basement, the second one under the rooms filled with weapons and ammunition that they had taken into their possession back then. A steel door led to another flight of stairs that let down to a rectangular room, entirely made out a stone, the room did not have a single window, old oil lanterns were nailed to the walls all around, spending barely enough light to read a book.

But it wasn't exactly the tranquillity and stable warmth of the room that Marcus and Cyrus were looking for as they pushed Julian down the stairs, guns still drawn, eyes still steadily on the brunet's every move, they had once made the mistake of misjudging him, they wouldn't do it again.

Sepia eyes took in the room again, he had seen it before, of course he had, he had been walking right at Logan's side as they had stepped into it for the first time, and he just couldn't believe Logan to really have the guts to do this. To put him into a cage. Like a toy.

But isn't that what you are, Larson?

The small voice in his head asked again and again, repeating Logan's last words to him over and over again, as if that would make it any better. He knew he had fucked up, he knew it was only thanks to Marcus that Logan was even still alive, not his credit. Not anymore.

Cyrus opened the cell door for him and waited until Julian had stepped inside, he wouldn't put up a fight, what was there do achieve, they had weapons, he had none, and if he somehow managed to flee, Logan would not hesitate to burn the world down if it meant catching him again.

You are screwed, Julian.

"Is he gonna make you captain, now?" he found his lips speaking without him really intending to as he turned to look at the dark haired boy who busied himself with lightening the oil lanterns around the room, Cyrus locked the cell. It was located at the corner furthest away from the stairs, with a simple cot and a blanket.

Marcus nodded for Cyrus to step out as he walked towards the wall, waiting to speak until Cyrus footsteps couldn't be heard anymore, only then did dark eyes look towards his captain.  
"I didn't chose this for you." his voice was almost as cold as his king's and Julian wondered how much was left of the boy's patience, he was curious on what he would do when Julian riled him up enough, would he explode just like Logan.

"I know." he answered instead, giving a small smirk and stepping over to the cot, sitting down upon it, "I chose this for myself.", Marcus gaze remained on his face, not a single emotion on his face.  
"You chose to betray Logan, but for whatever reason that only he can see himself, you are still the only one he really trusts. So no, he won't make me captain. He'll wait until you are sober enough again to do your job, even if we are all waiting for the day where he will finally get rid of you."

"Where is your loyalty now, Marcus?” Julian snapped back in the same angered tone, but Marcus didn't even blink out of rhythm.

"I'm a member of the Kingsguard, Julian. My loyalty lies with my king. And it would be wise for you to take this time down here to figure out which king has your loyalty, because your little ego act? It won't keep you alive anymore.” with one last withering look towards him Marcus turned around and walked back to the stairs and up to the door, stopping in front of it again, one hand already on the handle.

"Get over yourself, Julian. You are not everybody's darling anymore, many people are itching to kill you." and with those last memorable words, Marcus opened the door and went through it, closing it tightly after himself, and Julian was left in silence.

Don't think you are something special, Julian. You are all a part of my chessboard, and I can choose my toys like I want to. I'm gonna make it easy for you, it's either their drugs or your life, the cell will give you time to choose.

 

All credit for these wonderful characters go to Ryan Murphy for the Glee ones and to CP Coulter for her perfect OCs found in "Dalton".


	3. Chapter 2

Act I: A King and a Kitten

Part II: Guard Your Tongue!

The forest at the northern edge of Stuart's territory borders against the Death Zone for a length of half a mile, and while it was one of the most attacked lines of their land, Logan had long since decided that other borders were more important to guard.

For example, it hadn't been the first time when two weeks ago they had found one of the slave traders, lying with a broken neck, at the bottom of one of the steep slopes. The forest was small, quite dense with thick oak and birch trees, bushes on the ground with sharp thorns, and the ground itself always wet and slippery, plus the small but steep hills, which made it easy for one to stumble and fall, which not rarely ended in a broken neck when a tree planted itself in one’s path.

The river cutting through the landscape between the forest and the road to the inner town also helped in keeping their land free of invaders from this side. So it was silent on this early morning as the fog still hung over the meadows, and the birds were starting to chirp for a new day, as the sun slowly rose on a sky filled with some lonely white clouds.

It was just barely after half past five when a dull thud made a bunch of sparrows rush out of the small group of birch trees within a circle of taller oak ones.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Swish.

He curses loud and openly as the last knife missed the target completely and flew almost a foot by the tall oak tree, landing some distance behind it in the grass. Pathetic, it was utterly pathetic. He walked back to the tree and pulled the three knives out of the dark red circle, before moving over to the traitorous knife in the small patch of clear grass, his steps crunching fallen leaves and small branches under them.

Betrayed by a weapon. It seemed it was only a question of when his body would follow to let him come full circle, he though bitterly, and walked back to his mark. Raising his arm to throw again, he thought about the video message once again and took aim.

It was hilarious in a very dark way, it was almost as if the Ghost's fucking words were coming true without anyone stepping in to actually do something. You don't even need assassins, Wright – thud – you can lose your people quite easily on your own – thud – and not even to death.

Both knives had missed the target, embedding themselves in the forest ground left and right of it.

It had still been dark outside when sleep had left him in a single muffled gasp, another nightmare, another one where his brother's lifeless blue eyes had stared up at him, another night ending with a knife embedded in his bedroom's door, and a gun pointed at the only window.

Another night ending with more questions than answers in his mind, more voices in his head, more whispers in the darkness of his soul. But there was one thing that overshadowed it all now.

Why? Why betray me, Julian? Why take this away from me as well?

"I trusted you.” he whispers at nothing and no one, closing his eyes for a moment and letting the silence of the forest wash over him, it did nothing, nothing to calm the storm within, "I trusted you because you are my friend, and you played with it as if it meant nothing."

Drugs, his mind added, he did it for drugs. He did it for something you wouldn't give him, so he looked for someone else. And knowing that no one in Stuart would go against you, he went to the only source left for him.

The twins.

Number two on his list.

The rational part of him had built up a whole lot of excuses and explanations for Julian's behaviour, the best of them being that he didn't know any better, but the human inside of him, the tiny part of him that he still allowed to be ruled by emotions, it was hurt. It was betrayed and hurt and angry.

Julian had not only betrayed him as a captain. Julian had betrayed him as a friend. His best friend. Your best friend risked your life because he let himself be controlled by the drugs instead of you.

He chose to be theirs instead of yours. And it crashes over him again. Yours. Not theirs. Yours. Make him yours. And the anger is hot and white inside of him.

Logan snarled at nothing and everything as the rage blinded him for a moment, a red hot fog falling over his mind and soul, and he balled his hands into tight fists, bathed in the feeling of his fingernails cutting into his palms, because pain is real, because pain is human and pain levels you to the ground.

It had gotten more difficult with every passing day to keep his rage under control in the five days that had passed since Julian had almost gotten him killed, he could still feel his knee protesting after too much exercise, but it had lessened to a dull throb, his anger though, that was all over the place.

And a part of him wanted nothing more than to get his hands around Julian's throat and choke him until all the treacherous, back-stabbing lies had left him forever, his life right along with it. He had betrayed him, the only person he had ever dared to give his complete trust to had betrayed him, he had run blindly into a suicide mission because he had thought Julian would have his back.

Stupid. What a stupid mistake.

Once again he had let himself make a mistake.

The rage inside of him, the red eyed monster, didn't ebb away after a few minutes, and somewhere in the depths of his mind he found relief that he had managed to convince Derek to stay behind and not follow him into the woods today. Hurting him was the last thing Logan wanted in these repetitive moments of lost control.

"You probably shouldn’t play with knives when you can't control your temper." The amused chuckle behind him had him whirl around and unfasten the safety pin on his gun in a blink of an eye, and then he found himself face to face with a dark haired girl, her dark brown eyes smirking at him.

Her lipstick covered red lips curled into a devious grin, white teeth flashing, as one perfectly manicured finger reached up to push the gun from her forehead, "Careful, Wright. One might start to think you want me to come to harm."

"One might think you suicidal for stepping onto my borders, but one also knows you never thought like a rational human being. Step. Away. From. Me. Tess." The girl smiles a sweet smile, but takes a few steps away from him, walking backwards until she could lean back against one of the birch trees.

She was dressed all in red today, skinny jeans and leather jacket so scarlet that it almost burned in Logan's eyes, feet stuck in knee high leather boots again, red and heeled, making him wonder where she had stolen them. Her brown eyes were still focused on his every move, like a scared animal trying to decipher if the predator would make his killing move already.

"You're late." He commented drily, focusing back on the target on the tree, knowing full well that Tess wouldn't try something with him – she loved her own life too much for that. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago." 

He could basically feel her frown behind himself, but he only smirked and raised the knife, throwing it with a quick twist of his wrist.

Thud.

The knife hit the target dead centre.

"It's not even twenty to six." Tess argued back, completely ignoring that she was in fact forty minutes late, but he knew her too well to get aggravated over it, she shared her lack of respect for authorities and danger with Julian, and that thought sent another wave of anger through him. Hot enough that the next knife ripped the handle of the embedded knife and then plunged to the ground.

"You know that I expect people to be early. Especially those with missions I gave to them." he still didn't look over his shoulder, instead he pulled the gun from his holster and with a quick flick of his hand, a shot rand out over the forest. Tess jumped and reaches for a dagger, and more birds went fluttering from the trees, except for a fat black crow, which fell right before Logan's feet, "Been annoying me for half an hour already with its fucking screeches."

"Alright, spill the beans, Rosie." Tess huffed, but still lowered her dagger again and glared at the back of his head. "Unless your silence means that another week passed without you making any kind of progress on this mission I gave you two months ago." He emphasized each and every word with another knife sent flying.

"They are not easy trusting people, it is not easy to get to his inner circle. I tried my way with the Red Viper, I tried flirting with the Dragonprince, but they are too careful to let me in just yet. I need more time.” she sounds like a broken record, especially because Logan knew from his own spies on her that she was not doing a lot of flirting on her raids through the city, but he kept silent, because he knew it would only make her even more nervous.

"What about hoodie-guy?” he prompted next, and out of the corner of his eye he saw her bite her lip for a second, and his interest was triggered. "You know who he was."

"A crow.” the answer was quick then, "He was a crow, a brother's of the Night Watch.", she explained, "That's what the Lord Commander's men call themselves now."

"The Lord Commander? Interesting. Explains entirely why you are flirting with the Red Viper and the freaking Dragonprince.” No answer was also an answer, and Logan continued to grow more annoyed with every question Tess evaded with vague answers, she needed a priority check, especially when she made the mistake by changing the topic to something unspoken of.

"How is Marcus?” Tess's saccharine sweet voice wanted to know from him as his hand threw the second knife and it sailed a foot off the target line. Logan growled deep in his throat and slowly turned around again to glare at her, where she had slouched down on the mossy forest ground, leaning back against the rock he had used to lay down his bag and the flask of coffee.

Tess grinned up at him, twirling one strand of curly hair around a finger while she looked up at him. Logan slowly pulled out another knife from his belt, green eyes never leaving her so much darker ones, and when he finally spoke it was with a calm voice emphasising every word.

"We don't speak about Marcus." and green eyes tried to burn off her face, but Tess only grinned wider and Logan narrowed his eyes. "Unless you came to know something I should know about."

"No." and just as the other dozen times before, Logan could easily tell that Tess was lying right to his face, but just like all those times before, he didn't say a word, just made another mental note.

The time of truth would come. He had time. Tess did not.

"I need you to send a message for me. To Los Angeles. I need a mercenary from the SD cooperation. As fast as possible, and make it clear that he will only be paid after the contract is fulfilled.” Tess nodded, seemingly annoyed to play messenger again, but Logan had more important things on his mind than her mood.

"If you don't have anything else, then go, but let Enrico be an example. Keep your head focused on your mission, don't get distracted again." he snapped the words and poured all the power of green eyes towards the lean girl, she swallowed and it took a lot of self-control to not let his face fall into a satisfied smirk. He takes so much pleasure out of her fear. "You can go."

Tess hesitated once she was a few steps away, and Logan pretended not to notice it as he walked over to the tree to pull the ruined knife out of the target circles.

"Why do you keep doing this? Why not end me once and for all? Here and now." she called out over her shoulder and Logan smirked down at the knife in his hand for a second before he let the cold mask fall over his face again as he turned to face her again.

"That would mean I care enough about your existence to end it. You are a toy, my Queen." her nickname fell like pure poison from his lips and she openly flinched at his voice, "I might end you, one day." and he easily caught onto the returned fear in her eyes again, locked onto his own more vibrant green ones, and he grinned, flashed his teeth like a wolf ready to lunge at his prey, "Maybe one day I'll find the time to get rid of the dirt under my fingernails."

There was a small second where she visibly swallowed, but then the annoyance over being insulted took centre stage and Tess stalked off, disappearing between the trees again. Logan chuckled to himself and dropped his knives into the small bag again, but then looked up and smiled.

"And stop stealing clothes from the whores!” he called after her, not receiving an answer, as expected.

His concentration was screwed up though and after three more failed throwing attempts, he calls an end to his pathetic attempts at precision training. Packing up his bag took only a short moment and soon enough he was on his way back to Stuart House, the sun slowly rising over the trees behind his back.

\- - - 

"No." the boy with the short black hair froze at the kitchen door upon Logan's clipped voice, slowly swallowing before looking over to him, already afraid to have made a mistake again, "You report to Bailey again from now on, no more prison duties." the boy, one of his brother's friends Logan recalled, nodded hurriedly and then rushed off, leaving Logan alone in the corridor with the kitchen.

He was putting his bag onto the cupboard by the door when steps descended the stairs behind him and he didn't even need to turn around to know who it is, because his horribly annoyed groan gives it away easily.

"Where the shitty fuck have you been again?" it's the lack of coffee in his friend's system that let him get away with that open insult, there are always habits that are hard to let go of, and Derek's overbearing mothering tendencies towards the people he cared about were one of them. So instead Logan rolled his eyes, in turn with his body turning around as well, to face Derek, arms crossed over his brown shirt covered chest, standing on the last step.

"Somewhere called none of your fucking business.” he snapped at the brunet and turned back around again to slip into the kitchen, it was empty, fortunately, because Derek stormed after him not a second later and slammed the door shut.

"Don't fuck with me, Logan.” he was almost seething again, the apparently normal tone of his voice these past five days, sometimes Logan had even wondered who was more furious about Julian's betrayal, because funnily enough it was Derek who had a harder time concealing it. So instead of lashing out and giving Derek exactly what he wanted – an opportunity to finally get a rise out of him – Logan moved over to the coffee machine and got started on a new pot.

"Trust me, not gonna fucking go there." he answered in a calm, but quite pointed voice, showing his friend that he wasn't in the mood for bickering, he had barely slept four hours, half of which he had spent fighting against invisible demons in his dreams again. Derek was silent, and both of them stood listening to the coffee machine until it was done, and without a word they took their cups and retreated back to Logan's room. Just like every morning in the last week.

"I'm neither blind nor deaf towards Amos' intentions, I hear the rumours, but what exactly do you want me to do?" Logan demanded to know as they were standing around the table with the maps and chess figurines again, both of them staring holes into the blue and golden crest of Windsor, "I don't want war. I won't answer his biddings with exactly what he wants. If Amos wants war, he can start it himself." 

Derek nodded, pensive and deep in thought about something as he switched his eyes back and forth between the horse and the lion, standing close together on the table, as close as their divided borders allowed it.

Logan had seen his look, though he hadn't said any word in answer after some seconds of silence, and nodded as well. "Yeah, that's what I am wondering about as well. If there is an alliance between them..." but Derek shook his head, and instead picked up the black feather with the silver cursive W painted on it.

"He wouldn't dare ally himself with Hanover. We are in no position anymore to endanger the peace with an action like that.” Logan clicked his tongue and went to open his mouth again, but Derek waved the feather at him, "I know, I know. Amos wants war, but Bancroft doesn't, and that is playing into our cards at the moment."

Logan nodded at his words, but it wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't happy with it, he was itching to do some more active measures to assure that they would be standing on top when the war came, because it wasn't a question of if anymore, it was when. Walking around the table, the blond king reached long fingers out towards the red dragon in the middle of the grey painted territory of their neighbours.

"Be it as it may between Windsor and Hanover, don't you think it would be a good decision to reach out our hands towards allies ourselves?" and he held up the red dragon, whose mouth was wide open in a menacing growl.

"No. It's not a good idea." Derek was quick to argue, even though on the inside he was cheering – because a king thinking about strategy and allies was a king not thinking about video messages and ghosts, and if this meant he would have to accept some screaming fit because of clashing opinions, he would gladly take it. As long as Logan stopped obsessing about an enemy he can't take down alone, his mind provided. "If we ally ourselves with Lancaster, Amos will see it as an open sign of aggression towards him. You know how Riley thinks about Amos after what happened. You don't want war, but Riley does, we're not ready for that alliance just yet. We can't endanger the balance even more."

"So, you are advising me against it.", Logan mused, placing the dragon back on the map and walking over to the map on the wall, pulling at the string between Riley and himself, yellow for now, Derek shifted somewhere behind him.

"It's not advice. I'm telling you to drop the topic for now if you don't want to be out there fighting for your life inside your own damn territory tomorrow.” Logan whirled around and glared at the brunet, hands clenched into fists again at his side, if there was one thing he hated, then when someone told him what to do.

"Guard your tongue!” Logan threatened him in his cold and emotionless voice again and Derek snapped, the last string of patience got cut as slammed both hands onto the table.

"We're not your enemies, Logan." Derek screamed, hazel eyes glaring with a new found fire at his friend, it wasn't out of anger, Logan could see so much, it was mostly out of fear for him, and maybe it was that hidden intention that had Logan stop himself from screaming back at him. Derek was afraid to lose him. He meant well, Derek only wanted his best, he was just too tired to not yell anymore.

Whatever Derek had planned to let his outburst follow, it got cut short in his throat as Logan's door slowly opened and a blond head peaked inside, they must have overheard the knocking in their screaming fits or Austin was truly out for rebelling.

"Is this a bad time..." blue eyes switched back and forth between them, his voice sounding hesitating, Logan snorted and whirled around to stare out of the window again, it was the brunet boy who answered first.

"Yes." Derek snapped, but didn't turn his eyes away from where they glared a hole right through Logan's skull, Austin shifted in obvious discomfort and turned blue eyes to his brother, whose shoulders tensed up even more.

"No." Logan cut right back at his friend and Derek growled, prompting Austin to flinch.

"I can come back later if..." the younger boy tried another evading tactic and his hand went to the door's handle again, the tension in the room was thick enough to be touched with bare hands.

"Yes, come back."

"No, come in right now."

"Are you sure?" it wasn't exactly easy to question one of his brother's commands, his whole body screamed against it, but he still took only one step further into the room, Derek looked close to flashing his teeth and snapping at everything and everyone. An unusual expression on his face, Austin was used to seeing it on his own brother's face, but Derek usually remained stone faced even in his worst anger, but then again, usually they had a third party around to balance their insults.

"No, he isn't."

"Yes, he is."

"We are not done here.” Derek was almost spitting out the words by then, hands curled into tight fists at his side, but even he couldn't hide the flinch as Logan whirled around again, green eyes blazing with fire as he opened his mouth.

"Do you want me to give you a time out, Derek? We are done. You can go.", his words were followed by a second of silence until Austin had to jump to the side when Derek stormed from the room and slammed his door shut, "He'll calm down again, just overreacting." Logan commented his Hand's exit and then turned to his brother, all tension falling from his posture, "What's up with you?"

"I want something to do. Training, patrol, just something." Austin got right to the point, crossing both arms over his chest, he stuck out his chin and looked as adorable rebelling as Logan had never seen him before. Slowly raising an eyebrow Logan thought over his words for a second before answering.

"Aus...” he started calmly, he had seen how restless his brother had become in the last days, and how he had more trouble concentrating on his books with every passing day without Julian around, it had puzzled him, but had worried him more. He had been waiting for the outburst to come, and considering that Austin was way too careful to go off against anyone else but him, he had spent much time avoiding him whenever his mood had been too dark.

"I don't want you involved." He would rather point the gun to his own head than live with the knowledge that he hurt the only family he had left, but now was a better time, he had powered off enough steam with Derek, and Austin didn't hesitate any longer to let his voice be heard.

"NO!” Austin whirled around and screamed at him, “I’m your brother, Logan!" his voice echoed from the walls, "I'm your fucking brother! I got involved the second this psychopath started going after our blood! I need to learn to protect myself."

"No, you don't. I will protect you...” Logan let his own voice get louder, the promise he had made himself echoing in his head until his ears started ringing.

"And what if you can't?" his little brother's voice hissed at him, blue eyes that were scared and angry, and in a sudden and completely unknown gesture Austin growled, stalked into the middle of the room and swept his hand over the table, paper flying everywhere, and then he pointed a finger at him again, "You might be above the law and god knows above all of us, but you are not above death, Logan! YOU ARE HUMAN! And humans can get hurt. People die!" he was gasping for air when he was done with his outburst and Logan waited a moment until blue eyes settle upon him again before he responds.

"Don't you think I'm aware of that?" he tried, trying to sound comforting, but the words came out flat and cold again, and he cursed himself that he couldn't even show his own brother some feelings.

"Then stop acting like you don't care!" Austin exploded again as if triggered by any of the words he had just spoken, and he stomps his feet in a tantrum like move. "Stop throwing yourself out there, acting like you don't matter!"

He was yelling, voice rising to new heights, and Logan wouldn't have been surprised if Derek was already lurking in the corridor again, but what his brother said next stuns him, because he hadn't expected it, hadn't thought he had pushed the young boy already so far away, "Because you do, to me! You are the only thing I have left! Does that mean nothing to you?” The accusation stung and for a second Logan was left frozen as the memories crashed over him, breath stuck in his lungs, he looked at those sky blue eyes.

\- - -

Flashback

\- - -

It was two days after news of his father's death had reached them, a quarter after two am when Logan finally gave up on sleep that night, realizing that he felt much too awake and restless to find a chance for sleep at the moment. He had stopped asking himself why a day earlier, he had never had a good relationship with his father and personally, he wouldn't miss the strict old man, but for his brother, he would, because Austin had never done a single thing wrong in his life, he was the epitome of innocence.

Just a happy and shy young boy thrust into a world of danger, murder and chaos, and the grief over his father's death had quickly replaced itself by anger for him abandoning his youngest son, to have left him with a brother who could barely take care of his own life, who had a kingdom to be responsible for as well, who had never chosen this life himself.

Groaning to himself, Logan pushed the blanket away and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, sitting up when his feet touched the ground. Dragging both hands over his face, he wondered – and not for the first time – how many shots this world could still fire at his family. Wasn't a heartless, corrupt father and an emotionless, boys-hating mother enough? He had gotten rid of her, and their new world had done the rest, taken away the part he hadn't wished to all seven hells for his brother's sake.

Getting to his feet, he slipped into a hoodie and then left his room, stopping in the dark corridor for a moment to listen to the silence in the house. It was still a feeling that gave him slight unease, this soon after the bombings and the guard's attack. Shaking himself free of those thoughts, he crossed the corridor to the room directly across from his and slowly opened the door, trying not to make too much noise.

The blinds on the windows were not rolled down again, it was the first thing he noticed, because the moonlight fell into the room and highlighted the curled up figure on the bed, shaking and trembling in his sleep. Hurrying over and sitting down at the edge of Austin's bed, Logan quickly reached out a hand to wake his brother from his nightmare, he was a twelve year old orphan in a cruel and horrible new world, he deserved so much better.

"Hey, Aus, hey, come on, wake up." and with a startled gasp the fists came flying towards him, but Logan easily caught them and pulled his little brother up against his chest, holding onto him as Austin started openly sobbing, "It was only a dream, only a dream.", Austin shook his head against his chest, fingers reaching around Logan's middle to hold onto him, "You're safe here. No one will hurt you anymore. Not here. Not while I'm still standing." he pushed his brother a little away so he could look into his tear stained face, "I will protect you, Aus."

"You are the only thing I have left." the blue eyes boy answered in his broken and quiet voice, never ever dared more than whisper, Logan recalled his childhood, too much fear Dad would scream at him again, and he only ever wanted to be loved, "They took everything away from me, Logan. I'm all alone without you, and I can't...” he choked up as another sob ripped through his lungs and Logan shushed him and pulled him back against his chest.

"I got you. It's okay. I got you." he promised, "I got you now." and I should have gotten you out of there years ago, I should have run with you, he added in his mind, I should have taken us away from this country, but it was too late now, he could only try and secure the kingdom for his brother.

"Come on, lay down. I'll stay here, keep those dreams away.”, and with a lot of pushing and tugging, Logan had Austin under the blanket again in no time, pulling up a spare one from the couch, he laid down next to the blond boy, humming a lullaby from their childhood. And then, while he watched Austin fall asleep again, he promised himself something, he swore to himself to protect his brother, even if it meant giving his own life.

He is the reason I am going to fight. And I won't end until he gets the world he deserves.

\- - -

Flashback end

\- - -

"I'm sorry." Logan gasped out as the memory flash ended and he stumbled over to the closet to lean against the wall, the weight of the situation finally crashing over him – Austin was afraid because the only boy who ever protected you from you being yourself is locked away, and you’re suddenly surrounded by boys who fight for their king and not for who you were before. Just like you, a voice inside his head snapped at him, just like you he knows Julian is the only one you can trust to really have your back through everything that may come your way, and you locked him away.

"Don't you think I'm angry at Julian as well? He risked your life, and no, I won't be able to forgive him that for quite some time, but without him chances are even higher I will lose you. I'm not ready, Logan. Not ready to be king. And especially not ready to be alone." the anger gave away to despair in Austin's voice, and for a moment Logan just stared at him, but then he pushed himself away from the wall, "Please go and talk to him. He is your friend, is he not?” Logan nodded slowly as he crosses the room to walk over to his brother and squeeze his shoulder, he lets Austin remain with the thought that he had convinced him to go and see their sniper.

But in all honesty, he had made up his mind five minutes after opening his eyes this morning. A king would visit a kitten, and demand answers.

\- - -

The door opened with a metallic click, but all Julian did was to open his eyes and stare at the stones next to his head, he was curled up on his side, his back to the cell door, two blankets pulled over himself.

He felt pathetic, weak and beaten down, he knew his body was at its lowest, too much energy taken away by the cold, and by withdrawal. He can't sleep though, can't even rest properly, because as much as his body is screaming and yearning for it, he cannot let his guard down. And his mind never shut up anyway.

Logan could have died because of you.

Logan trusted you to have his back.

Logan got hurt because you fucked up.

Because your hands were shaking too much. Because you put the drugs first. Because you couldn't get enough. Because you let them get into your head.

Julian pressed his eyes close again as footsteps went down the stairs, step by step they clicked down the stones. He had barely done anything but think and wallow in his self-inflected misery since Marcus had left days ago, interrupted only by snipping comments at Milo whenever the younger boy brought him water and bread, treated like a prisoner in medieval times.

Milo had cracked after a day though and had bit back with barely concealed insults, they had never liked each other, and Julian knew right from the start that Logan had picked this kid on purpose to play food servant.

The footsteps turned towards the table in the corner by the stairs and fabric shifted for a moment before something heavy thumbed down on the wooden surface. Most have been a bigger bottle of stinking water than usual, Julian grumbled to himself inside of his mind.

He still didn’t move, but his mouth opens before he can help it, he had always had troubles with keeping his mouth shut, think before you talk it echoed in his mind, sounding so much like Derek that Julian really snorted out loud by instinct.

"No greeting today for your captain?” he called out, frowning at the obvious croaking in his voice, footsteps walked towards the cell, but there was still no answer, "Did they cut your tongue? You're turning into a monk now, Vergel? Or did your brain finally accept your status as a lesser human being?" again he was rewarded with vocal silence, but the footsteps stopped right in front of the cell's door.

"Oh god, come on, say something. Did Derek order you to take the last fun away from me now? You hate me, I hate you, let me insult you. There is no fun in getting no reactions." and he turned around on the cot to let sepia eyes glare at the younger boy until he spluttered nonsense in his nervousness again.

But when his eyes fell upon the person standing in front of the bars, he froze and his eyes widened.  
"Logan."

"Surprised to see me? Or surprised I'm not holding a gun to your head?" he was cold, just as Julian had expected him to be, so he didn’t flinch when green eyes look at him like he does with their enemies, as if he was worth nothing.

"Have you come to punish me or to get rid of me?” just like always, his mind wasn't quick enough to stop him from blabbing out the first thing that came to his mind.

Logan didn't say a single word, just raised his left eyebrow and takes off his leather jacket, throwing it onto the table, he turned around then and placed both hands flat upon the table's surface. Julian was still frozen, but his tongue darted out to lick his lips as his eyes see Logan's muscles ripple under the white shirt as he shifts his strength into his arms to brace himself against the table.

"Stand up." his low voice was almost a growl, and it's like the crack of a whip, that crashes through Julian's body and he got to his feet as if pulled by a rope, his muscles protested, screaming in pain, but his mind barely registered it, all he can hear is the tone of Logan's voice, all he can feel is the pull towards him again.

It was wrong. But that had been the reason they had started it in the first place. Taste the forbidden.

"Step around the cot and stand facing the wall.” the command still comes out cold and growling, but Julian pushed his bare feet to walk towards the wall, the last thing his eyes see before he turns around to face the grey stones is Logan straightening up again and pulling his shirt over his head in a single motion.

A moment passed in silence, but Julian could hear his heart rate speed up, and he crawled his fingers against the stone while his eyes fell shut, he hadn't been touched in weeks, ever since the video message had appeared Logan had kept his distance, had been too busy falling into obsessing over it, and he still blamed half of the time he went to get stuff from the twins on sexual frustration, after all he was in denial about the real reasons.

"Take off your shirt.” Julian flinched when Logan spoke again, much closer already, and he cursed his mind for being too distracted already to not having heard his steps, his guards were breaking, his body was too tired to focus well enough to keep his senses on alert.

His arms were shaking and trembling as he pulled his hoodie over his head and then let it be followed by the black shirt, once he was bare chested, a shiver ran over his skin, the cold of the dungeon seeping into his body.

His breathing picked up the moment a foot nudges his legs apart, and his whole body jolts when there is suddenly a hand pushing him against the stones with his upper body, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

"It's an interesting punishment you have in mind." he almost slapped himself for his stupid mouth, but somehow managed to keep his hands pressed against the cold stones, he does roll his eyes behind closed lids though, fuck it, Larson, keep fucking quiet. Logan chuckles, and the sound sends a new wave of emotions through Julian and it's fear sneaking into his heart but heat coiling in his groin.

Logan doesn't chuckle anymore. Not with them.

He laughs at Amanda and her antics. He smiles at his brother. He smirks at Derek and Julian.

He only chuckles when the enemy amuses him in a standoff. He chuckles when the enemy still thinks he has the upper hand when his knife is already pressed against their throats. Logan chuckles when he is about to kill you.

And Julian suddenly knew exactly what kind of death he would die.

A body is pressed against his in the next moment, hands gripping onto his hips as Logan leans against him, bending his own body to bring his chest flush against his back, and Julian's breath left him in one giant whoosh of air.

He dugs his fingernails against the stone as Logan pushed his face against his neck, teeth grazing the skin, and Julian had to bite his lips to keep from making a sound when Logan pushed a leg between his. He knew how this will work out. He had to be quiet. If he wanted to get anything out of it, he had to be quiet, because that had always been the real punishment.

Take away his last weapon. Take away his tongue.

"You know how this goes, don't you?" Logan grinned against his neck as he pressed even closer, and Julian had to swallow hard to keep the moan from slipping past his lips as he felt how hard Logan already was, he nods when Logan digs his fingernails into the skin under the waistband of his jeans when he doesn't react properly, "Good." and the blond's voice was flat, but his breath is hot like fire on his skin when he moved his mouth to where his right shoulder meets his neck.

His willpower failed as one hand slowly stroked towards his zipper, unhooking the button first, fingers tantalizingly slowly pulled down the zipper, and he pinched his eyes shut even tighter as those long fingers slipped past the waistband of his boxers.

He was hard. No denying, he had been hard since Logan pulled off his shirt. Logan was what he needed. The drugs were only poor replacements for a fire he could not quench anymore. But the drugs and what he had done, the betrayal, it was all wiped from his mind entirely as Logan's fingers wrapped around his cock and his teeth bit into the juncture between shoulder and neck.

And Julian tasted blood.

\- - -

One and a half hours on foot to the West, another king was in the middle of interrogating his own people, because despite strict patrols and what he had thought to be genius security something had been stolen from them. Something had been taken from Hanover, and it was not only something...

Someone had taken Hanover's heir. The crown prince had been kidnapped.

Danny Abbott was missing.

It had happened in the middle of the night, silent and quick, no one had heard or seen anything, they had just woken up to an empty crown prince's room with the window wide open, and the boy nowhere to be found.

That had been two days ago, they had managed to keep it between Windsor and them for now, making it very clear that no word about it shall be leaked to the other two kingdoms.

"I need to be out there. Why am I not out there looking for him?" Hanover's tall king dragged both hands over his face where he was pacing in front of the window in his room, the house was basically empty, ever single boy out to scout their territory.

"You might be in danger. You can't run around out there right now like a blind fool, you're not thinking straight , and we don't know for sure what we're dealing with." Justin chose to avoid looking at Charlie, instead he leaned against the window again and stared out onto the grounds, "I get it, alright, J? I know how this feels, but we won't let it end the way it did with..."

"Don't say his name, please don't remind me even more.” Justin interrupted the other king quickly and dropped his forehead against the window, Charlie turned silent while he fought down his own memories returning. It just all felt like the last time. And none of them knew how to keep the other one above the water if another prince was forever lost.

For a few minutes no word was spoken between them, both of them caught inside their own minds, each falling deeper into memory lane, about the day their hopes were crushed, when all potential for a strained peace with Stuart got thrown into a fire.

"I sense a pattern.” Justin turned around upon hearing Charlie's voice again in the comfort and security of his own room, Windsor's king had hurried over upon learning about the abduction, while their joined houses were still searching the grounds for any clues.

"A pattern? For what?" the brunet boy with the gentle blue eyes wanted to know, walking over to his bed to throw himself face first into the pillows, Charlie pulling his arm away in the last second before it could have gotten crushed beneath his friend's body.

"Don't you think it's a little too coincidental? This kidnapping...?” Justin didn't even let him finish again, groaning in exasperation, he had listened to him for far too long already.

"Don't come at me with your theories again, Chaz, I really can't do with them right now. Someone took Danny." and Charlie, knowing him just as much as it went the other way, knew when to be silent, when to shut up and keep his opinion to himself, but on the inside, he didn't stop. He had his ideas on who had taken Danny, or at least who had something to do with it, and he wouldn't stop, not again.

"You need to relax.” he changed course, reaching out a hand to place it on the other boy's leg, and just as expected Justin was completely tense and rigid.

"I can't." Hanover's king spoke into the pillows, voice muffled and annoyed, and Charlie slowly let his fingers slide over the back of Justin's thighs.

"Let me help you." Justin groaned, but still turned around and the look in blue eyes is already far from annoyance, and a small smirk slipped over Charlie's face, he still melted like butter in his hands, just a little more patience he told himself, he would cave in soon enough. You will have your way in the end, Charlie, be patient, just a little more.

Logan Wright will die. And the war will get rid of the rest of them.

"How? I can't think about anything else, what if he is hurt? What if they, whoever they are, what if they are hurting him right now..." Justin had to stop as a strong hand fell over his mouth, successfully keeping him from speaking, he looked up into blue eyes, so similar to his own.

"We will find him. We will save him. And we will make them pay. But first you need to relax." and with his voice dripping honey, Charlie pushed him until he fell back on the bed.

And as the door fell shut, kicked by Charlie's strong foot, it was still easy to see the hand slipping under a blue shirt.

\- - -

Back in the dungeon on Stuart's territory, Julian had dropped his forehead against the stones as Logan increased the pace of his strokes, body pressed against the small boys back, hips slowly thrusting his hardened erection against Julian's ass, the friction of his pants making his blood slowly come to a boiling point. And when he deemed it enough, Julian was close to biting off his wrist to keep quiet.

"Clothes off." Logan's voice snapped through his mind like a whip and Julian didn't dare turn around when he reaches down to push his pants over his hips, even though he could hear Logan walking off again. And soon enough, he was standing completely naked in front of the stones again, forcing his legs to stop their shaking, but his body was weak, too much energy pulled from him in the last days and it's fucking cold. Behind him, fabric sizzles and the thought of Logan naked had his blood rush south again, no matter how much the cold burns on his skin.

"Hands on the wall." he complied, shutting off the part of his brain that can never stop talking and just following orders, biting his lips and relishing in the taste of his own blood as he felt the warmth of another body at his back again. A hand pressed upon his right hip in the next second and he gasped upon the warmth, but it quickly turned into an angry hiss as he is being pushed against the stones from head to toe, "You are being punished, don't forget that for a second." Logan's deep voice whispered close to his ear and Julian has to close his eyes to keep the sensations from seeping into his body.

Don't forget that you will only be allowed to come when I tell you to, that was what Logan truly meant with his statement and Julian tensed up for that sweet first second as a lube cold finger reached for his hole. But he was too far gone already for his body to not melt into behaving, and he pushed his legs apart further and bites onto his wrist. Logan was silent as a mouse, didn't give away any sign of how he was enjoying it while he worked a first and then a second finger inside of him, and it's not as rough as Julian had expected it to be and the anticipation is pushing his mind into overdrive.

Take me. Take me, take me, take me. His brain was screaming at the strong body behind him, but he kept silent, kept every word choked behind a strangled gasp. He ground his teeth together from fighting to avoid making a sound as Logan pushed a third finger into the tight hole, and no matter how many times they had already done it, it still sends Julian close to the edge, and he is quickly trying to avert his thoughts.

When he finally deems him ready, Logan manhandles him onto the cot, roughly now, pushing him to lay on his back, and he doesn't waste any time to lay down over him, pushing in with a single trust that had the brunet see stars, hands flying up to grab onto strong shoulders. And the blond smirks, stops for a moment, buried deep inside of him, staring down at him with lust filled green eyes.

But the small moment of taking in his prey ended when Logan started moving, sharp thrusts, quick and hard, and now it turned into what Julian had been waiting for. Rough, hard and quick, unforgiving, punishing, this was Logan showing him exactly who had power. And who would never have it.

And when Logan leaned down to bite at his neck again, dragging teeth down his collarbone in tact with his quick paced thrusts, Julian is praying for the words, and almost whines in relief, when Logan finally whispers "talk" into his ear, his breath so hot on his skin. And the first loud moan echoed in Julian's ears, and it prompted Logan to move in for a kiss. It was hot, more teeth than lips, both trying to dominate, and Logan was ruthless as he bites into the fresh cut on Julian's bottom lip, drawing a mewl from the young sniper.

The pace is too rough for him to come, he knows that, but he still keeps his eyes from falling shut, tries to keep his mind from concentrating on sounds and skin on skin alone. And Logan only quickened his pace even more and brought their bodies flush against each other and a first scream escaped Julian's lips as the sudden friction shot through his cock and whole body.

He wasn’t pay attention to his sounds anymore, wasn’t keeping track of how many times "fuck" and "yes" crossed his lips as Logan's thrusts became more frantic and even deeper, all he could see was the fire in green eyes, all he could hear were Logan's panted gasps, all he could feel was the snap of their hips crashing together under a constant strong of "mine, mine, mine" slipping from Logan's swollen lips.

He was close enough that it was physically hurting him, but he knew he had to keep holding on, that Logan doesn't kid around anymore when it comes to truly punishing him, so he only dug his fingernails deeper into broad shoulders, earning himself a hiss from Logan as the blond pushed himself up until he was leaning over him again, hands splayed onto the cot left and right of Julian's head. And when he gave his next thrust, Julian screams when it hits his prostrate dead on, two more hard thrusts and Logan comes with a roar, green eyes burning into sepia ones, and for a moment Julian was lost on thoughts as his mind crashes back over him with a snap.

He had never looked you in the eyes before. For the first time, he hadn't avoided eye contact in the final moment. But he punched the calls in his heart and head quickly away again, and it's even easier when Logan slips out of him and away from him in the first second that he had control over his limbs again and suddenly he is sitting on the edge of the cot again and Julian fell victim to the cold.

"You can do the rest yourself, don't you think?" Logan quipped at him as he stood and picked up his discarded clothes on the way from the cell over to the table in the corner, and for a moment Julian is left staring at him in utter disbelief, how he calmly reaches into the bag to take out a towel to clean himself.

\- - -

The sun shone down upon the two figures laying in the grass on the hill that offered a glorious view over Stuart House and their territory, but neither of them spared a second of their thoughts for the view, much too focused on their inner trouble to care for the landscape.

Sunshine caught in brown hair as the taller of the two rolled onto his side and looked down at his unmoving companion, hazel eyes looked down upon the other boy's peaceful face, and his hand twitched as if he wanted to reach out and comfort him.

Because peaceful he was not, and Derek knew him long enough to realize when Marcus was playing calm and cool to shake off questions, but his body was tense, his hands had gripped onto the grass some minutes ago.

"Your silence makes me wonder if something happened five days ago that you should have told me about?" his voice was quiet, there was no need to be loud since they were alone, completely alone in this meadow, and Marcus's senses were as much on alert as his were nowadays, he could even hear his whispers loud and clear.

"No.” was his short answer, cut and almost snapped. Derek dragged a hand over his face and then used the same hand to lightly punch Marcus's arm – the highest ranking guard in Logan's Kingsguard besides his captain opened one eye and glared at him.

"Come on, we both know you hate Julian..."

"I don't hate him."

"Hate what he did...."

"Everyone hates what he did."

"Oh god, let me finish.” Derek growled and kicked at Marcus's leg, which resulted in him ripping out a hand full of grass and throwing it into his friend's face. Derek on the other hand quickly reached for the bottle of water he had brought up with himself an hour ago when they had begun their silent moment of peace away from a brooding Logan and a sulking Amanda, uncapping the bottle, he had half of it poured over dark brown hair already, when Marcus yelled for him to stop.

And without a moment's hesitation they both started laughing, falling back onto their backs into the grass, and it took them almost two minutes before they gasped for new breaths, arms curled around their middles, but soon enough again, the clouds of doom fell over Marcus again and he turned silent. Derek noticed it, he always did, and with his eyes focused on the clouds flying over the blue sky, he took a deep breath and asked.

"What happened, Marcus?" On the inside, he wondered if it had been a mistake to have ordered Marcus to walk Julian back to Stuart that day, even though he had been the only choice Derek had come up with, the only one who would make sure Julian would arrive at the house, hurt or not, he would never let him escape, and he had been right in the end, but on what prize.

"I wonder if Julian was the one who tipped them off about our plan when the traders attacked us and I almost..." died, when he almost died, Derek finished the other boys’ sentence in his mind as Marcus couldn't, and then, just for a moment, his mind came to a complete stop.

Was it possible? Was there really a chance that Julian had been so deep into the drugs and his addiction already that he would have dared to tell their enemy about their plans? Had Julian dared to endanger one of his boys’ life?

His heart screamed at him to stop thinking about it immediately, that it was stupid, that Julian didn't resent Marcus that much, Derek had first-hand seen the horrified look in sepia eyes as their plan had failed and Marcus had fallen to the ground. Shot. Slashed. Bleeding.

But his mind, the one part that was still wondering if this Julian was still his best friend from two years ago, it didn't scream, it turned deadly silent.

Because he had betrayed Logan... why not someone else... why not someone he didn't even like so much...

"Logan trusts him." and it sounded so pathetic on his tongue, Derek thought, as if those words has become an all telling excuse for all of Julian's actions, it wasn't as if he hadn't brought in trouble before endangering their king's life.

"I know... that's why I am trying to as well. Do you?” Marcus wanted to know and pulled him successfully out of his thoughts, Derek looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Do I what?” he asked back, prompting Marcus to roll his eyes in annoyance, he hated it when Derek zoned out on him, it happened way too often in the last weeks.

"Do you trust him?"

Derek didn’t answer him, not at first, his mind went blank again for a moment, lost in thoughts about friends lost and a king and a captain won, and when he snapped back to the present again, he was leant over Marcus, staring down into wide eyes.

"Not as much as I trust you." he whispered, letting the honesty pour into his words as he leans further down and captures the other boy's lips with his own.

They only broke apart when both their phones went off with an incoming message and the shared ringtone connected to that one special contact that had them both grimace and scramble to their feet in record time.

"We're late.” Marcus cursed and almost stumbled down the hill in an attempt to get into his jacket and answer the message with a quick reassurance that they were already on their way.

"She is going to kill us.” Derek grumbled, already dialling Cyrus to remind him that they wouldn't be back for some hours, reaching out to pull Marcus in the right direction with his other hand.

\- - -

"Come on." Logan prompted when he was already dressed again, only the two top buttons of his shirt still open, the rest of him looking as impeccable as ever, while Julian was still a panting mess on the small cot. Naked. Hot. And so fucking hard.

"You can touch yourself, you know." and oh, how he wanted to tell him just how much he knew him to be a big fat royal asshole, but he couldn't get enough breath in to form more than one word at a time, and Logan was wearing an overly smug grin as he walked back into the cell, leaning back against the bars right next to the door, "Let me watch, Jules. Let me see you crumble."

Keeping his eyes trained on Logan's blazing green ones, Julian reached surprising stable hands to wrap around his cock, and as after two strokes, Logan's tongue flicked out to wet his lips, a heavy moan passed his lips and he threw his head back into the lousy pillow as his eyes fell shut.

"That's it, keep going." and Julian was too preoccupied with the feeling of skin on skin, with the warmth in his hands and the pulling in his groin, too preoccupied with the sensation of "yes, yes, yes" to notice the steps coming his way or the weight settling on the edge of the cot.

But his eyes flew open when strong hands wrapped around his throat, not yet squeezing, but the heavy weight making his laboured breathing difficult already, his hands stilled around his cock and he came face to with possessive green eyes.

"Keep going." Logan ordered, his voice dropped so low that it sent shivers down Julian's body all over again, and he tries to open his mouth, but Logan uses just a little more strength and all that leaves his lips is a choked up "Lo...".

"I said keep going." and he did, moved his hands again, but he didn't take his eyes away from Logan's face, not away from his eyes because he kept his emotion hidden anywhere else, and with every stroke he rises higher and higher. And gasped breaths turned into moaning, and as his hands movements became more frantic, both hands around his throat tightened their grasp.

"Lo..." he choked again, dark spots coming to dance in his vision, but he still kept his eyes on green ones, still kept on stroking, flipping his thumb over the head, and it was too much and he needed to come, but he couldn't breathe.

"Lo..." he choked again, and then gritted his teeth as his entire body started screaming for release and air, and his heart was hammering against his chest, and Logan leaned down with an unbelievable satisfied grin.

"Say my name!” he commanded him to, "Say my name! Say my name and come for me!", and he sounded almost desperate and obsessed again, and his hands tightened even more around Julian's neck, and he can already see white on the edges of his vision and he opened his mouth for a silent scream as the wave came closer and closer and suddenly he was flying as Logan loosened his fingers.

"Logan!” he screams as the air fills his lungs again and his whole body seemed to convulse as the force of his release crashed over him and blinded him for a second.

"And you better remember it. You are mine." Logan sneered at him and let go of him completely, getting back to his feet and with a brisk pace walked over to the table again, Julian could only watch him through half closed eyes while the endorphins melted his body into an utter puddle of goo, "Clean yourself. And then dress, we need to talk." and he threw the towel towards him and fresh clothes, and while Julian wondered how he should get his body to move, because yeah that had just been a good one. Logan wanders around the cell as if he hadn't just come hard ten minutes ago and picks up Julian's old clothes, "I'm going to burn these outside, be ready when I'm back."

Ten minutes later, Julian was not entirely dressed, but Logan deemed it enough as he came back down the stairs and sat down on the desk again, befitting him with a cold look, but said nothing for another five minutes, but when he did, his flat tone speaks against his words, "I have questions."

"I don't have answers.” Julian easily replied, a first hint of the old cockiness and arrogance slipping back in his voice as he looks over to where Logan is sitting on the desk, no button or hair out of order, as if nothing had ever happened. Julian hates him for it sometimes, for his ability to look as though he didn't care for a single thing in this world.

"I need to know why.” for a guy who had pretended to have a lot of questions, he sure started them all wrong, Julian grumbled on the inside and looked away from Logan to button up his shirt.

"Why what?" he asked, reaching for the black belt Logan must have taken from his own closet, Julian had never seen the need to have JLW branded into leather belts. Logan huffed and slapped a hand against his thigh, Julian knew the sound, way too good to mishear it, and then the real question came, the one Julian dreaded.

"I need to know why you did it. Why you thought taking drugs from our worst enemy was worth it? Why you thought it was even an option? Why risk my life over drugs?" and when it was all in the open and said and done and Logan stared at him with demanding green eyes and Julian did everything to avoid looking at him, his head turned and turned for an answer.

"Don't make yourself too important.” it slipped from his lips again before he could stop himself, the first defence mechanism, he couldn't tell him, he couldn't tell him the real reason.

"Julian, I swear...." the anger came back to him in a quick rush and Julian was convinced that Logan only remained sitting because he whips his head around to glare at him, holding up his hand to signal him that he wasn't done answering.

"I can't. I cannot tell you the truth.” he continued, letting some of the desperation and dare he say it even anxiety colour his voice, Logan immediately furrowed his brows.

"Why not?” he wanted to know, and he looked as puzzled as he must have felt, and Julian could understand why, there had never been the issue of keeping secrets between them, not until now anyway, but he couldn't. For the very first time he could not say a word.

"Because I can't... I can't tell you the truth because I'm not ready. Because you are not ready, and the world sure isn't ready... and I just can't. Not now, not here. You just have to trust me that it won't happen again." it wasn't begging, he knew he didn't need to, but he still kept his eyes focused on Logan's, let him see that you are not lying, let him see that you just cannot tell him the true reasons, because you know you are right, he is not ready for it. He will never be ready for it.

"Trust? I'm supposed to trust you? After you almost got me killed." he sounded as disbelieving about it as Julian felt himself, it was much to demand of him, but he had to do it.

"Yes."

"Why would I?” he asked, immediately shaking his head afterwards, "No, you know what, why should I? Answer me that." and for a moment Julian was left thinking, because did he have an answer? Should Logan trust him? Wouldn't it be easier to just let him go? Easier for both of them? But deep inside he knew the answer to that was no, it wouldn't be easier, he was too selfish for that, he needed Logan to trust him again, he didn't care about anyone else but their small family, the rest of the world could go to hell, so he tried another tactic.

"You're here, are you not? Why did you come?” he questioned the blond who sat up more straight.

"You want to know the truth? I came because even though you almost got me killed, you are also the only person out there I can trust to have my back. Despite all your betrayal, despite the drugs and the twins, you are still the only person out there aside from Derek that I can trust. And no matter how many times in the last five days I tried to convince myself that it's a lie, and trust me I tried so hard, I'm stuck with you. And it doesn't make me happy anymore.” for a moment they just looked at one another, "But I don't have a choice. I haven't had a choice to decide anything for myself in a long time, you might become my friend again, but right now, you're just a puzzle piece to a life I did not want to lead."

And for a very long moment, silence reigned between them while Julian swallowed down the words Logan had just said, calm and almost friendly, stated like an unmovable truth.

"You need to apologize to Derek, beg on your knees if you have to, but I need to be sure that the two of you won't be at each other's throat every time I turn my back. And he is pissed, so you better bring your best act." Logan sounded more annoyed than angry, and for a second only Julian had to think back to the first weeks after Logan had been crowned king, of endless debates between Derek and him and a blond king just wanting to sleep.

"It won't be an act..." he promised and he meant it, as he closed the last buttons on his shirt and pulled the hoodie over his head, walking from the cell, he knew he had a lot of work to do until Derek would trust him completely again.

"I don't care at the moment. I just need to have you two working together.", his phone ringing had him shut up for a moment and with an annoyed huff he pulled it out from the bag when it wouldn't stop after three rings. He had explicitly told Derek that he was off the grid for a reason today.

"Asshole!", the feminine voice screeched in the instant that he had accepted the call and with the calm of someone having done it many, many times already, Logan held the phone a foot away from his ear and Julian raised an eyebrow at him, but then grimaced as the shrill scream reached even his ears, "You fucking son of a bitch!" the voice spoke again and the with a roll of his eyes, Logan sat down at the edge of the table, legs dangling over the ground and smirked, Julian finally walked out of the cell and sat down next to him.

"Hello, Franzi.” the blond king greeted the young woman calmly, after one and a half years of knowing her, they both had built up a good defence system to her outbursts whenever Derek looked stressed as hell upon arriving at the lake house. Logan suspected that Marcus didn't look any better this time, only adding to her inner fire, after five days of double patrols and double responsibilities without his captain around, Marcus had been ready to fall over this morning, so it had been a good choice to having talked Derek into a time out after all.

"Fuck you. Fuck your stupid smirky self. Fuck your arrogance. Fuck your voice. Just fuck you, Logan.", and on and on she went, and Logan had to give her some credit on how many body parts and characteristics of his that she could combine with a single fuck, putting the phone on speaker and strapping it to his belt, he grabbed his bag and gestured for Julian to stand up.

"Wow, she is on fire." the brunet chuckled, getting to his feet, Logan rolled his eyes and started walking towards the stairs, Julian didn't hesitate to follow him, least of all that his king changed his mind again and left him behind for another day.

"Now, listen to me, and listen to me good..."

\- - -

"You could have been a little bit nicer. It wasn't Logan who fucked up.", Marcus casually threw into the room as Franzi ended the phone call and slammed it down upon the table again, Derek chuckled where he was already sprawled across the bed, buttons of his shirt already unbuttoned from before the girl with the brown locks had thrown caution into the wind and had wrestled his phone from him to dial their king.

Swollen lips grinned at the ceiling of the simple room in the house by the lake, while Marcus crossed the room to the leader of the Sandsnakes, the group of unclaimed girls living at the lake on the edge of Stuart's territory, turning her around and away from the table, he smiled at her and reached out a hand to cup her face.

"We told you it's okay. No one got hurt, and as long as Logan only takes it out on Julian, we're back to how it's always been." he told her, voice turning into velvety softness, his thumb stroked over her lips, "And now, how about we go back to where you interrupted us." they shared a grin and turned towards the back where hungry eyes awaited them in a handsome face.

"Let's make him forget.” the rebel girl's leader agreed with his plan and intertwined their fingers as they walked over to the bed again, crawling onto the mattress on each side of the stressed boy. Eager hands reached for skin again, more buttons popped open and as she leaned down to capture Derek's lips in a searing kiss, Marcus reached down to open the brown leather belt.

And soon enough as the breathy moans filled the room with fire and lust, traitorous and out of control friends were the very last thing on Derek's mind as he reached for both his lovers at once in his rise to ecstasy.

\- - -

The night sky is cloudless, millions of stars shining down upon them in this moonless darkness, and for half an hour silence reigns between the three of them, laying on their backs in the middle of Stuart's rooftop. It's a comfortable one though, one they hadn't shared in a long time.

It's a quiet comfort, only the stars around to see them, only their light able to judge them. Julian is in the middle of them, and after an hour long screaming match between Derek and him, Logan is the only one nursing a bruise, and though it may still take time until the trust between them was as big as it had been before, this was a start.

A start Stuart and they truly needed, because a lot was rolling towards them, still unknown mostly yet, but their power would soon be questioned and only together they would be able to push through it. But for now peace was still among them, and as the first cold breeze makes Julian shiver in his white shirt, Logan and Derek edged closer to him without taking their own eyes from the sky above them.

"I want him dead." Logan's voice, calm for a change, almost soft, breaks the silence, green eyes narrow at a star constellation he remembered from stupid childhood games, "I want his blood on my hands." and his words sound like a prophecy, foreboding, and Julian reaches out a hand to squeeze his knee, quenching the anger before it could even root itself into the blond's emotions again.

"We're gonna help you, D and I will help you, but you have to let us, Lo.” the thinner brunet promises, sepia eyes turning to look into green ones.

"Jules...” the blonds voice turns almost pleading, but Julian remains stubborn and shakes his head, and it's Derek on his other side who speaks up then.

"No, he is right, Lo.", Derek interrupts him from Julian's other side, "If you let us help you, if you trust us to help you, we can take him down, but you will have to let us in.", Derek knows it's a big demand, that it's not easy for Logan to open his dark thoughts for them to see.

Logan is silent for a whole minute, a time Julian uses to turn his head to his right and look at Derek, sepia eyes were tired, but also relieved, a silent Logan meant he was at least thinking about it, instead of instantly giving into his paranoia again.

He was trying.

"Logan?” all three of them flinch when Bailey's voice cuts through over the roof, stopping their comfortable silence and the undisturbed trio moment, the first in months.

"What?" green eyes only reluctantly turned around to look at the younger boy, who looks apologetic at least, wringing his hands together nervously, but his voice is as strong as always when he answers.

"Jason said to get you. He has something to show you, it's urgent apparently.” Bailey explains calmly and Logan groans, but still gets to his feet and waits for Derek and Julian to follow his example.

\- - -

It takes them half an hour though until they slip into the darkened room that would have been directly under them, but Amanda hears Derek talk and then continues to pout and beg at them to bring her to bed, all three of them. They give in as her bottom lip starts trembling, it wasn't hard to guess that she had caught onto the tension in the house, no matter how hard Cyrus had tried to keep her out of it.

But stupid was the last thing Amanda was, and after the second day, she had quickly realised that Julian was not on some mission, she had even dared to confront Logan about it until Austin had quickly snatched her away.

And then, once Amanda had closed her eyes and had let them leave, it had been Austin apparently sneaking off with a bunch of books towards the backside staircase that had Logan distracted from their goal for a ten minute lecture on "you want me to trust you, so how about no sneaking off in the night, while someone is trying to wipe out our family". When they finally reach Jason, he looks slightly angry for the delay, but his loyalty keeps him from making a stupid comment, he owes Logan his life, and adores Julian too much to ever speak out against them anyway.

"Just look.” he says and points to the sniper rifle, as always pointed out the window in the night, Logan steps forward first and falls to his knees in front of it, leaning down to look through the scope. It takes him a second, just a second really until he finds what Jason must have deemed important, and it is.

Switzerland be damned. No alliances, my ass, he thinks while he tried to glare right through the scope, tried to glare at the two boys at the border to Windsor's territory. No, not just boys, kings. Two kings obviously thinking themselves in enough safety to fall into their lust and needs.

At least that's what it was for his eyes while he watched Bancroft throwing his head back against the tree he was leaning against, shirt unbuttoned, pants down to his ankles as Amos sank to his knees in front of him.

"Oh, now, that is interesting.” Logan mused as he stepped back from the scope of the sniper rifle again, Julian and Derek raised an eyebrow at him and then exchanged a quick look before both of them scrambled around Jason to get to the rifle first.

Derek won their race, but quickly whipped away from the scope again once he had taken a look into the night, dragging both hands roughly over his face, one could clearly see how his mind was fighting against the images his eyes still provided him with.

Julian on the other hand gave a small approving grumbling sound, leaning further against the rifle, "Amos sure seems hungry. And wow, Bancroft is more flexible than I would have given him credit for." Derek whined somewhere off to the side, but Logan snorted and only threw him an annoyed look, as if someone even still pretended to not know about him and Marcus anymore.

He still pulled Julian away from the rifle though, before he looked at Derek, Jason sliding down onto the mattress again.

"Hanover would never ally themselves openly with anyone?” he repeated the brunet's earlier words, both eyebrows raised, "Right. And their kings fucking each other’s brains out is totally speaking for that.” , unbeknownst to both boys glaring at each other, Julian had pushed Jason away from the rifle and was peering through the scope again, "Tomorrow morning, Marcus is going to Lancaster. With a message for Riley. If Amos thinks he can go behind my back, then he is in for a surprise. You don't play with fire, you'll get burned."

Derek looked right back at him, and for a second Logan thought he saw him agreeing, he could feel it, could sense it that the brunet was on the edge of throwing all diplomacy into the wind, he was just as pissed off about Charlie's behaviour as he was himself. But the moment is over quickly and Derek's rational brain overrules his heart again and he narrows hazel eyes, but it's Julian's amused chuckle that stopped whatever he had wanted to say.

"You know if you let me, I could probably hit a bullet right into Bancroft's dick. The wind is good right now." peering through the scope, finger already on the trigger, Julian didn't see how Derek and Logan whirled around to stare at him, and how Jason slowly edged away from him, "I wonder how they would explain that, no holes in any pants, but a bloody cock. May I?" for a second it was utterly silent, at least until Jason started laughing and Logan and Derek groaned in open annoyance.

Their anger towards each other forgotten, they both groaned and reached down to pull Julian away from the rifle and to his feet again, with Logan keeping one hand curled around his upper arm. Julian looked over to the younger sniper in the room and winked.


	4. Chapter 3

Act I: A KING AND A KITTEN

Part III: WE FORMED AN ALLIANCE.

Previously on "A Game of Kings"

"You will. You will go on without me and get yourself to safety! You will run from them, run until you lose them! You will run for me! You..."

“My name is the Ghost. Dalton will burn, and I will start with you, and everyone who thinks sacrificing themselves for their wrong king's untainted life."

"You are Hand of the King. I am your King. It would be wise to not make me question your loyalty again.”

"You want to know the truth? I came because even though you almost got me killed, you are also the only person out there I can trust to have my back. Despite all your betrayal, despite the drugs and the twins, you are still the only person out there aside from Derek that I can trust. And no matter how many times in the last five days I tried to convince myself that it's a lie, and trust me I tried so hard, I'm stuck with you. And it doesn't make me happy anymore.” for a moment they just looked at one another, "But I don't have a choice. I haven't had a choice to decide anything for myself in a long time, you might become my friend again, but right now, you're just a puzzle piece to a life I did not want to lead."

Seven weeks later

It was a lazy afternoon, which found Logan hidden behind a book on the balcony of Stuart House, laying on a deck chair, green eyes sometimes wandering down to overlook Marcus and Cyrus helping Austin with his target practice. He was relaxed and calm, even though the threat was more present than ever after he had to "let go" of the sell-sword he had called for to keep watch over Julian, but the guy hadn't given him any choice once it had been made obvious that he had family inside Windsor.

Julian, perched on a chair on the other side of the table, cleaning his handgun, was still giving him a hard time days after Logan had ordered him to bury the body on the other side of town, he had actually liked to talk to his guard, but Logan didn't like to be played. So Clark had to go.

They had rebuilt some of their trust, though they were still not close to how they had been with each other before, but Logan knew that Julian and Derek had his back again, and they had proven it when they had taken down the Mountain a week before. A stealth attack where Logan's plan of luring, confronting and sniping had worked again.

One more assassin down, and the Ghost hopefully even more pissed off.

The door opening raised him from his thoughts, and he looked over the rim of his book to the door, where a small head with brunet pigtails giggled while pushing the door shut again, only to freeze in mid twirl upon seeing the both of them. If there had ever been a fitting moment for the deer caught in headlights look, then it was now, Amanda had been caught doing something she wasn't particularly allowed to, only Logan had no clue what it could be.

"Amanda." he greeted her, voice only slightly curious and questioning. Derek's sister, upon noticing that she wasn't to be scolded just yet, regained her grin and skipped over to them. Climbing upon Logan's outstretched legs, she sat down cross legged and watched Julian work for a short while until her brown eyes settled onto Logan's face again, and the king spoke without lowering his book "Yes?"

"What are you reading, Logan?" she sounded whiny was Logan's first observation, which usually meant that she was either horribly bored or ridden by guilt, but he still moved his hand to the side so she could read the title, "'Krieg und Frieden' by Leo Tolstoy. Bailey says that is a heavy book." he had never really been good in dealing with girls and the younger they were, the more he sucked at it, so Logan threw a quick look over to Julian who was already grinning down at his neatly polished gun.

"Speaking of Bailey." he came to his aid and Amanda snapped her head around to look at him. "Aren't you supposed to be in lessons for another hour, Manda?" she immediately turned red and started to wring her hands around the hem of the dress she was wearing, and then she looked up again with those rounded, big brown eyes that had Logan quickly snap his book up again. Where was Derek when you needed him?

Julian had been too late to look away and was hit full force by the puppy look and out of the corner of his eye, Logan could see how he basically melted on the spot. Placing his gun on the table, Julian got to his feet and walked around the table so he could look down to their little princess. "Why aren't you with Bailey, Manda?"

"I don't like it when he makes me do math. I want to read more books. Juli, can you tell him to let me read more books?" Logan's amused smile quickly vanished behind the book as Amanda's whiny voice turned even higher and she pouted up at Julian full force again, bottom lip struck out, brown eyes almost filling with water. He felt all his last defences melt away, and crouching down, he put on a serious face and looked into hers, right as her lips started quivering.

God, she was too good.

"He's giving you a hard time? I'll go get my gun." Amanda was about to start clapping and Logan was already lowering his book to glare at Julian for supporting her, when the door falling shut had all of them turn around to look at Derek standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"No one is getting anyone's guns. Amanda, Bailey is looking for you, don't let him wait any longer. And then it's right off to bed for you.” 

Stomping her feet, Amanda glared up at her brother, but then quickly disappeared into the house again. Derek turned to face his friends, expression melting into a deadly serious one, "And we need to talk.” he walked over to them and Julian sat down on his chair again.

"Have you seen this?” Derek’s voice was suddenly harsh as he pulled a folded piece of paper from his back pocket, unfolding it and placing it on the table right in front of Logan so that Julian had to crane his neck to read the words. It was an article taken from a news website from an English web service.

The thick bolded heading was easy to read:

Madman continues to threaten Mexicans with drop of atomic bomb – hundreds have fled the north already.

"Yes, I have." Logan answered in cold, measured words, and pushed the paper away. Julian immediately reached for it to read, between night shifts, day patrols, strategy plotting and whatever he had been doing alone with Logan behind closed doors, Stuart's sniper barely had any time to check in on what was going on outside their little world. "I saw it. I read it. I acknowledged the far away threat. I moved on.” Derek's stare stayed, unmoving, on him for another minute and Logan sighed when it became clear he wasn't going to elaborate on his thoughts.

"Seven weeks ago, you told me to shift my focus from solely concentrating on the Ghost back to our inner Dalton problems and the threat Windsor continues to pose for us. I did.” Logan explained in that analytical tone of his again, "I got back to keeping an eye on Windsor and to strategizing possible battle tactics. I'm pulling myself into two to get control over these situations, and now you want me to turn my eyes towards Mexico as well? Mexico?!"

"Lo does have a point, D." Julian piped up from his position at the table, fingers tapping on the newspaper, "It's thousands of miles away. It's a threat for them, maybe for Arizona and California.” the brunet explained while Derek dragged both hands over his face, "Stop worrying all the time, Derek. Let's focus on what is here around us for now. Because even if he doesn't find what he is looking for in the South, his next targets would probably become the big cities on the East Coast, not a simple if maybe fought over town in freaking Ohio."

Logan kept his ears on his friends' voices but turned his eyes down to his brother again, just in time to see Austin hit the target dead centre again with an ease that had Marcus and Cyrus continuously exchange looks. And while Derek huffed and pulled up another chair to join them at the table, he whistled once and waited until Marcus looked up, only then did he raise a hand, pointed at Austin and waved his fingers to the right.

Move him further back.

Marcus understood and pulled Austin several more feet further back from the target, then instructed him to try again. Austin aimed, shot and hit the centre again. Julian hummed in approval as his own eyes followed Logan's stare down into their garden, looks like they found their prince's ace.

"I'm not saying we have to do something right now. You are right, Logan, we have more serious issues to face...” Derek agreed with their arguments, but when Logan and Julian looked back to him, he laid both hands on the table, palms down, "But we can't just ignore this. Yes, you are right, he will probably turn his focus on some major cities if he doesn't find whatever he is looking for in the South. But no matter how many parents had died, had many contacts have been broken and cut, most of these boys still come from those major cities and have ties. Thin as they may be.” Derek grabbed the paper from Julian again and looked at the headline, "Questioning could lead to fingers pointing in our direction. You both know that people say a lot of things to get the danger away from them."

"So what are you saying?” Logan "I already have Bailey scanning the internet and news sites, to keep us updated, to let us become aware of threats before they reach us. We can't do more.” Derek immediately nodded to show that he had understood him, Logan raised a questioning eyebrow, "So?"

"I'm saying that we should rethink our situation with Lancaster again." the hot topic had Julian instantly sat up straight again, Logan and Derek had argued about it for hours already, both of them changing their opinions so much that most of Stuart had lost count of who was thinking how about what side now.

Julian was one of them.

"It might bring more instability into our situation here, but on one hand I think that we can be sure that Windsor and Hanover have allied themselves, and on the other hand I think that we can no longer turn a blind eye on future threats. We need Riley's support, because a rebellion like the one edging closer towards us will draw unwanted attention to us." Derek had barely finished speaking when Logan swung his legs from the deckchair and sat up more straight, Julian groaned.

"No. You know how I am thinking about this, you know how Riley feels about this.” Logan made it clear what his position was, "I don't want war, Derek. I will not be the one throwing us into a battle for dominance over Dalton.” he emphasized almost every word, "Riley and I agree over one thing. If Amos wants war, he can have it under the one condition that he is the one to start it. We have a treaty between Stuart and Lancaster, it's enough for now." Logan got to his feet and green eyes glared hazel ones into submission, "The second anything gets official between Hanover and Windsor, Riley and I will talk again." and he turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Julian called after Logan as the blond boy strode towards the balcony doors with quick steps, sepia eyes turned to glare at Derek, who quickly raised his hands in a defence gesture, what a way to ruin a calm evening.

"I'm going to take Austin on another night patrol. Marcus and Cyrus will come as well, the rest stay here." and the glass door fell shut behind him. Julian reached up to slap a hand against Derek's chest.

"What was that for?” he complained but received no answer while the sniper collected his gun and the cleaning kit and made to walk back into the house himself, "Where are you going now?"  
"Nest.” came Julian's quick reply, "Do you think I will let Logan present himself and Austin in the dead of night without a sniper scope following their every move?” Derek groaned out and moved to follow him, intending to send his sister to bed and grab Bailey to keep watch over their king via their security camera system.

\- - -

Unbeknown to Stuart's king and his entourage, another king had left the safety of his house and had ventured to the border of his own territory, right along with a handful of his own boys. Charlie Amos had finally started listening to his advisors again and had for some time at least taken his focus off of Stuart and redirected it towards a former enemy that had long been thought subdued.

Together with his strongest confidant Dwight Houston, captain of Windsor's Kingsguard, his most loyal Kingsguards David Sullivan and Wesley Hughes and his trustworthy Hand Blaine Anderson, he was on his way towards Lima, a town not far from Dalton, where a former rival High School had formed their own rebellion group. A group Dwight suspected to be responsible for Danny Abbot’s abduction, and they were on their way to approach Lima from the East, while Bancroft led his own boys to an attack from the West.

Only flaw in the plan: Justin didn't need to cross two rival territories to get to their location.

And he wasn't accompanied by two rocks attached to his limbs, Charlie grumbled to himself, chancing a look to his right where Reed van Kamp stumbled over a rock and got caught just in time by Kurt Hummel, their newest addition, a rescued kid from the same group they were marching upon now. A boy he endured now because it had strengthened Anderson's loyalty, God only knew how they could fall in love in such a time.

It was sickeningly sweet how, even now, in the middle of the dark, on the every edge of their territory, where David and Wes were already walking with guns drawn and eyes flickering towards every dark corner, Anderson hurried to Hummel's side when the brunet boy sighed upon running into a spider web. Tanned hands quickly reached up to help the pale boys get the sticky strings out of his hair and Charlie didn't feel sorry about the heated glare he sent in his advisors direction, Anderson flinched and straightened up again with a jolt.

"Do we know who is on duty tonight?” Blaine called out in a quick attempt at distraction, blinking in the direction of Stuart House in the distance, the only thing you could see were tiny glimpses of light filled windows. Wes and David shrugged, while Dwight casually picked up a spare shirt from the trunk of the Jeep they had driven to the edge of their land, curling it into a ball before he tossed it the ten feet over to the border line. The shot came silent, but it tore right through the shirt, leaving it floating to the ground with a hole where it would have covered a heart, had it been worn by one of them.

"Julian.” Dwight commented dryly, while Kurt Hummel gaped at the ruined shirt, and then furrowed his brow upon recalling the unknown name in his head, he turned to Blaine to ask, but before he could have opened his mouth, something rustled in the bushes before them, and all of them whirled around, Blaine and Reed stepping in front of Kurt immediately, guns drawn. Wes and David had already unlocked their Smiths, Dwight and Charlie had done nothing, silently staring into the darkness, they weren't in the wrong yet.

"Good guess, Houston.” Charlie sighed, when the low voice spoke out, pushing a hand through his hair, he stepped closer to the border line again, pushing down their raised guns as he went.

"What are you doing here alone, Wright?” Kurt whipped up his head in returned confusion, that voice hadn`t sounded at all like Logan, there was no musical swing to it, no melodic sugar, but from the darkness stepped a blond boy, obviously smaller than the king he apparently shared a name with, and when he had fully left the safe bubble of darkness and reached the light spots of the Jeep's headlights, Kurt was barely able to stifle his gasp. Alright, maybe more than just the name. Blond hair, as casually and easily falling into his face as his older brother's, sharp features, pale skin, wearing black pants and a black shirt, he looked as dashingly handsome and godlike as Stuart's king, like a younger copy. He had the same dangerous aura that made the hairs on Kurt's neck instantly set on alert, eyes so blue like the sky – doing a quick headcount and then settling on their leader – the only difference Kurt could find. Where Logan's eyes were green with venom, this boy's eyes still held some semblance of innocence in them.

Austin Wright. Logan's younger brother.

Stuart’s crown prince.

And, since four days ago, the only remaining prince.

"Scared I might be up to something?"

"No, more like interested if your brother knows that you are outside alone. I don`t see anyone lurking around in your shadow."

"With Julian on duty... please Amos... as if someone would even be able to get close to me. And who says I`m alone?” suddenly there was a swishing sound and as Wes and David still raised their guns, Austin's pale hand shot out and caught the butterfly knife in mid-air. Kurt didn`t know if he was more horrified or impressed, those Stuart boys had a problem. Charlie on the other hand didn`t seem so excited over it, glaring at something behind the young prince, he wanted to take another step forward, but a bullet penetrating the grass in front of his feet as a clear warning shot, stopped him, Wes and David clicked their guns again.

"You know the rules, Amos.” and from behind his brother, Logan Wright stepped into the light with calm, measured steps until he stood just that half a step in front of his baby brother, Charlie and him got locked into a staring competition, during which Kurt leaned closer to Reed.

"What rules now?” he whispered, neither of them taking their eyes off of their king and their enemy.

"No one but Logan, Julian and Derek are allowed closer than a six feet radius around Austin. Not even the boys who usually act as his bodyguards.” Kurt frowned down at his smaller friend, it sounded like a myth almost, like something passed over through gossip to make the enemy seem more disturbed than they truly were. He had never seen the boy before, but he looked able to defend himself. There couldn't be a way how you managed to survive and grow up among a boy like Logan Wright without being able to defend yourself against attackers.

"What are you doing here? You are dangerously close to Stuart's territory.” Logan's cold, somehow detached voice wanted to know, eyes wandering over Dwight and Charlie to finally settle on an equally glaring Blaine, Kurt wondered what he had missed there again.

"Do you know who took Danny?” Logan tried to keep it hidden, but they could all see the little twitch in his left eye and the way his body got rigid after Blaine had spoken, his voice devoid of any emotion as well.

"Marcus, Cyrus!” the blond king bellowed out in the next moment, and from the shadows another two Stuarts stepped out, dressed all in black, "Run the perimeter, and call back to Derek, something is wrong. Tell them Danny Abbot has been kidnapped.” Austin remained completely unfazed by the whole situation while both Stuarts disappeared again, but Kurt was able to see how Logan strengthened his protective stand in front of his brother again, the first sign of emotions in him. It seemed like family still counted something for him, where he was a soulless monster in everything else.

"I`ll take from this that it wasn`t you.” Blaine had apparently decided to take over the conversation for now, which was only better for them, with two kings among them who couldn't have more bad blood between them, it was a success if they got out of this without someone getting hurt.

"Why would there be a reason for me to take Abbot?” Logan sneered down at the smaller brunet boy, and Kurt could see how Blaine curled his hands into fists, "I have no animosity towards Hanover. And even I know not to cross Bancroft's way, when it comes to Abbot. Do you have any clues who could have taken him?” he was either a brilliant liar or he really did not have their missing prince, whatever it was, Kurt couldn't read anything in Logan's mask of a face.

"Why don`t you tell Julian to take his sniper focus off my chest and we can talk.” Kurt saw how Logan chuckled, how Blaine and Dwight whirled around to stare at their leader, on whose chest a red laser dot was neatly placed, over his heart, Wes and David were still pointing their guns into the darkness of the trees behind the Wright brothers and Reed kept an eye on Austin, but the younger boy seemed more annoyed than aggravated.

"I can`t do that, I fear. You can`t expect me to leave my own brother unprotected just after learning of Abbot's kidnapping.” they had to give it to him, his reasoning was right and understandable, Charlie sighed, clearly unhappy with the whole situation.

"Alright... I`ll get straight to the point. Justin suspects McKinley and some misunderstanding, he has already taken Spencer to drive down to Lima and I want to follow him. And the closest path is..."

"I`m not letting you cross over my territory, especially not if you plan on wandering into Paige's country right after. It`s not happening, Amos.” his voice lost some of their coldness and turned a little more pointed and heated, as if his patience was slowly running thin, and after everything Kurt had heard about him, he hoped they would end this before it got even more ugly. Justin relied on their help, and Charlie would surely remind himself of that soon, instead of starting a fight here and now, against a kingdom filled with the best snipers and boys trained to fight in utter darkness.

"Wright, I swear...” but as always when talking about their greatest enemy or in a conversation with him, their king showed that he had no calm in dealing with Logan Wright, and Logan should have just stopped talking before he made it even worse.

"Riley and I have a deal. I keep the war from his boys and he...” but Logan couldn't even finish his sentence, because Charlie exploded slightly, prompting Dwight to glare at him in an open sign of insubordination, green eyes saw that with no obvious interest, but Kurt wondered what went on inside his head.

"You have a what?” Charlie’s face reddened in anger within seconds, "You made an agreement with the Lancasters? Are you searching for allies now?” which was about the stupidest thing Charlie could have said, even Blaine threw a quick look towards him, but Logan didn't grab the gifted attack opportunity and instead gave an end to their meeting.

"Listen, Amos, I don't have to explain anything to you of all people. I make decisions that bring advantages for my boys. No one but Stuarts or Lancasters cross the borders between our territories, and even then only with official business. Find another way. Good luck in bringing Abbot back, I mean him no harm.” Fingers signing something to probably more boys in the shadows, Logan send one last glare to their group before he pushed Austin to start walking, and in complete silence they watched the Stuarts disappear into the darkness of the night again.

Unbeknownst to the Windsors, Austin's calm and cool face disolved the moment they were out of listening distance, pupils widening he stuck even closer to his brother, fingers tightening around the butterfly knife. Logan was tense, eyes darting around the darkness, one hand placed protectively on the smaller of his brother’s back to push him forward, the other one had a tight grip on his gun.

"I shouldn't have brought you with me tonight."

"It's too late now."

"We found nothing.” Marcus voice had Austin jump for a second as he appeared next to them again, "Nothing is out of order. I called Derek, he wanted me to tell Colby and Terri. Cyrus and I met them at the parking lot.” Austin relaxed a little more again, especially as Cyrus stepped out behind the next tree, machine gun slung over his right shoulder, before the Stuarts lights got closer.

"Keep the patrols on double tonight. I want at least two people on every exit for the rest of the night, and someone to keep an eye on the security cameras."

They reached the front steps, where in the door Derek's looming figure was waiting for them as they climbed up the few stairs, in the foyer more boys hovered, clearly eager to get some commands. Logan's hand left Austin’s back as Cyrus and Derek closed the door behind them, on the outside Nick and Thad moved back into their vigilant stances in the shadows of the double doors.

"Double patrols. For the rest of the night you will organize yourself to keep at least two people at both exits at all time. Keep your eyes and ears wide open, keep in touch with the Lancasters. Tipton!” Bailey moved to the front of the wall of boys, "I want someone's eyes on the security cameras at all times until news reaches us from Hanover that Abbot is found."

"Yes, Logan.” as the boys scrambled off to organize themselves, Logan got rid of his jacket and then he was left alone in the entrance hall with Derek, Austin and Marcus, Cyrus having gone to grab his men and take first watch on the back entrance to Stuarts territory.

"Where is Julian?” Logan asked Derek, who immediately nodded to the stairs on their left.  
"Still in his nest. Wanted to see what the Windsors were doing after you left.” was his explanation while Logan was already moving towards the stairs.

"My room, ten minutes.” were the last words he called down to his brother and two friends before he jogged up the stairs to the third story of the house.

\- - -

"Still there?” Logan wanted to know as he stepped into the darkened and empty small room under the roof, save for the mattress in front of the only window, wide open, where the thin boy all in black was still perched behind the sniper rifle, trained eye watching the enemy. His right foot tapped twice on the ground and Logan closed the door behind himself and walked over to the young actor, going to his knees on the edge of the blue mattress.

"What are they doing?” he wanted to know, eager to get more light on this weird situation, why dare and risk a confrontation with them to safe another king's prince. Logan knew Amos and Bancroft were...close, but Amos would still not be so stupid than to risk his own boys for someone else's heir, especially not as long as he was without one himself.

"Arguing.” was Julian's short reply and Logan furrowed his brows. That was odd, even from them, showing un-united behaviour that close to their enemy, knowing that they were still being watched for sure, even Windsors couldn't be that stupid.

"Who against whom?” was his next question, maybe that brought more light into the situation.

"As it looks, Amos and Anderson, and Houston with Hughes and Sullivan.” quickly running those names past the gossip he had heard about those lunatics in the last weeks, Logan rolled his eyes when some particular conversations with Derek came to his mind. Especially those about Windsor's new pet, and Anderson's infatuation with him.

"Let them have their internal struggles, it can only be good for us. Come, we have more important things to discuss.” tapping his fingers in a comforting gesture against Julian's shoulder, Logan sat back on his heels so he wouldn't be in Julian's way.

"Abbots kidnapping by the Lima kids?” Julian wanted to know, sliding out from under the black blanket he kept over his head to keep distraction away, Logan didn't like the paleness in his face upon seeing him properly again.

"We both know that Lima is the very last place Abbot will be.” the local group of troublesome nuisances had cost them bullets and headaches in the past year but that had quickly ended when Logan and Charlie had independently of each other called for some strikes to be pulled so those kids would learn who was the new master in the area now. They had been quiet ever since, and it would call for major stupidity to view kidnapping Hanover's darling prince as a way to get some attention back.

"You think the Ghost reached out his hands to Hanover?"

"I think he is trying to rile me up enough so I will make a mistake."

"Amos blamed us, didn't he?” Logan nodded and both of them got back to their feet, Julian took his rifle – "Kate" – down and dismantled it, while Logan closed the window, drawing the shutters down.

"Aye, he did, but Bancroft doesn't, that is what counts in the end.” it was, it truly was, Logan knew that Derek and Justin were the only ones standing between them now and them at war at the moment, as long as Stuart's Hand and Hanover's king were still actively working against a war, they were safe. Amos wouldn't try it all alone.

"What do we do now?"

"I send the boys on double patrol, told them to keep in contact with the Lancasters. Cyrus took his group to the second entrance."

"Why the sudden need to up the security?” Julian's question was understandable, the threats had been there long enough already, and Logan had never seen the need to barricade them into their own territory, they had always confronted the danger head first, most of the time without a real plan, much to Derek's continued frustration, but Logan's answer changed Julian's perspective as well.

"Because Houston had something in his eyes when Amos told about his plan to help Hanover take back Abbot, and he kept staring at Austin."

Julian shared a long look with him but said nothing, instead he closed the case with the sniper rifle, clicking the locks into place, but when he went to go back to his feet and pick it up along the way, he found a pair of strong hands pulling the black trunk from his hands. Still kneeling on the ground Julian turned his sepia eyes up to catch green eyes and he furrowed his brows upon seeing the slight signs of unease on Logan's face, but it's vanished quickly again and Logan walked out of the room without saying another word.

They met up with Derek, Austin and Marcus in Logan's room as ordered to, but there wasn't a lot to talk about, not as much as expected. Danny Abbot's abduction was a strange coincidence, but none of them believed that the Ghost truly had anything to do with it, as Derek didn't get tired to emphasize, why reach out his hands to someone from a kingdom not out for Logan's head. Anyone from Windsor would have made for sense, and it was frustrating how little they could make from these new information. And it was the unknown that was eating Logan up, slowly, from the inside.

Thus the room was silent after Derek, Marcus and Austin left, but it was the kind of silence that Julian couldn’t stand, the heavy one, the one filled with foreboding, the kind of silence that usually ended with some more people on Logan's hit list.

The kind of silence that just two weeks ago had ended with Logan suddenly drawing his gun on Clark after a calm strategy meeting had ended with Derek casually glancing over to Logan before pulling Marcus out of the room.

\- - - Flashback - - -

"What are you doing, Logan?" Julian almost shrieked and pushed himself away from the desk he had been sitting on, intending to put himself in front of a shell shocked Clark, but Logan roughly grabbed his arm and pulled him behind himself, "What the fuck is your problem?" he yelled even louder, he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Just minutes earlier they had calmly discussed a plan for a possible open field battle against Windsor if it came to an open rebellion, and Logan had actually liked Clark's input. Julian had talked for hours with his personal babysitter, had come to like him, and had actually not been tempted once to go off and beg for drugs again even after Logan didn't look his way for three days straight.

"Shut the fuck up, Julian and stay back." Logan coldly ordered and clicked the safety pin on his gun, Clark slowly raised his hands, he had no way to defend himself, the only weapon Logan allowed him to have inside the house was a knife, and Clark had confessed to Julian that he wasn't so great in hand to hand combat, he relied on his guns.

"What is going on, Logan?" Julian calmed his voice, but still kept the hard edge in it, sepia eyes glared at the back of Logan's head. Was he so deranged now that everything and everyone was a threat to them? Had Clark sneezed too loud?

"Be silent, Julian."

"No, I won't.", Julian immediately protested, but somehow he still did not dare and step out from behind Logan again, as if his body already knew that something was wrong.

"He is a traitor." Logan snarled, and Julian frowned at his back, "He has a brother in Windsor."

Oh.

Snapping his eyes around to look at Clark, he instantly saw the guilt in blue eyes, and despite all the anger towards Logan's possible overreaction, he felt disappointment flare up inside of him. Hours. Hours spent talking while Clark accompanied him on missions and patrol. Hours spent talking about secrets Julian had never dared to confess to anyone aside from Logan and Derek. It was like a punch to his gut.

"Is that true?" he demanded to know, Clark nodded and opened his mouth for what Julian hoped to be an explanation, but he would never hear it, because in the next second Logan pulled the trigger and Clark dropped to the ground.

Dead.

Julian immediately punched Logan's spine, resulting in the blond stumbling forward and only barely managing to secure his gun again before he slammed into the table. He whirled around with flashing eyes.

"Why did you do this? We could have found another solution! He didn't have to die!" Julian screamed at him as in the next second the door crashed upon and Marcus and Cyrus stormed into the room with raised guns.

"I had to." Logan spoke very calmly, and pushed his gun back into his jacket, "You being so attached to him only proved me right just now. We cannot trust anyone outside this house anymore. No one. And there was no other solution. He knew things, you told him things. He had to die." Julian was fuming, clearly angry and spitting fire with his eyes, but he didn't say a single word, because deep inside he knew that Logan was right.

"Marcus and Cyrus can help you bury the body." were Logan's last words before he stalked from the room and left Julian to stare at Clark's empty blue eyes. He hadn't been his friend, he had been paid to keep watch over him, but it still had been fun, and just like always, Logan had to have utter control over him.

\- - - Flashback end - - -

Said boy was sitting on his desk, one hand still curled around the pocket knife, the other one was tapping an unknown rhythm on his knee, but Julian was more interested in the way green eyes kept staring out of the window into the dark night.

It was the first time that Julian truly saw how much this faceless threat against him was affecting Logan. Jaw tense. Teeth grinding together. Brows furrowed. Eyes narrowed into slits.

"Tell me what you are thinking about?” the words bubble from his mouth before he can help himself, but Julian needs to break this silence hanging over them, this cloud of anticipation was wearing him down.

"It's not important.” it was, it was extremely important or he wouldn't look so torn over it, but Julian knew him better than anyone else among the Stuart boys, he knew when Logan was ready to talk and when he wasn't.

And most of the times, he knew when Logan needed distraction more than anything, so silently he got to his feet and walked over to Logan's desk, from where he had previously sat on the bed in the corner.

Pushing against the blond one's right shoulder until he let himself be manhandled into a position turned away from the window, legs still dangling over the edge of the desk, Julian let his hand slide slowly slide over Logan's shoulder and collarbone until he reached the top button of the black shirt.

"Julian.” in response to the steel hard call of his name, Julian raised another hand and dropped it over Logan's lips.

"Don't talk. Don't think.” he had popped open another three buttons when a pair of stronger hands came up to push his left one from the blonde's mouth and to stop his right one.

"No."

But what he said wasn't what he truly meant, and out for defiance and rebellion Julian raised his eyes to look into Logan's hardened face again, and with a flick of his wrist, he freed one of his hands again.

"Don't.” Logan said again, but his green eyes held onto Julian's and still hidden beyond the anger and fury, the powerful waves of lust and pleasure were already waiting to be unleashed, and the brunet knew how to push the right buttons.

Metal clicked and Logan stiffened as the sharp blade stroked over his still pants-covered thigh, green eyes narrowed and Julian smirked.

"You are not the only one who can take unfair measures to take what you want.” he let the seductiveness slip into his voice, pushing his left hand down, he roughly slapped Logan's hand flat onto the table.

As the blonde's fingers twitched, the blade dug harder against his thigh, and he growled low in his throat, but the only sound that escaped the smaller boy was an amused chuckle.

"Lean back.” he ordered and though it was with much anger, Logan placed both of his hands flat onto the simple brown desk behind himself, leaning back onto them, muscles shifting under the sleeves of his short sleeved shirt.

Julian used his free hand to push the usually more dominating boy's knees apart, slipping in between them in the next second, the blade edging closer to Logan's groin.

"How many?” he wanted to know, he knew that even in the believed safety of his own room, Logan never went unarmed anymore, the Ghost's threat was ever present now. Julian himself couldn't recall a night anymore where he hadn't woke up in the early hours of the morning, gun in hand and raised towards the door, the other hand already curled around a knife under the blanket.

"Enough.” was Logan's cold answer, the more reason to give him some distraction, a much needed distraction from the weight on his shoulders, the burning questions in his mind, just for an hour for him to let go of it.

"Take them out.” Logan made no move to follow his words, so Julian placed more pressure into the blade again, fully knowing just how close the sharp tip was to Logan's cock, still soft, but Julian knew how to change that, "I said... take them out. All. Of. Them."

This time Logan did follow suit, shifting his weight onto one hand, he used the other one to unclasp the belt with the gun holster and the knives, Julian took it almost greedily. More knives followed, and after Logan growled again when Julian set a hard glare onto his face, he even gave up the spare gun from the holster around his ankle.

When he was done, already bared before him save for the clothes on his body, Julian greedily took him in with his eyes, Logan was vulnerable now, at Julian's mercy, but and that was maybe the part even hotter for him, Logan let himself be at his mercy.

And Julian felt his blood turning south even more, he grew hard while green eyes watched him, trying to decipher his next move. Julian moved in again and restarted what he had begun minutes ago, unbuttoning the remaining buttons on Logan's shirt, he pushed the black fabric to the side, revealing a chest littered with five distinctive scars that each had their own story.

The blade was still a present threat at the taller boy's thigh as Julian pushed the shirt from Logan's strong shoulders, Logan having accepted his fate as much as to get rid of it completely once it pooled around his wrists.

Hungrily, Julian let his brown eyes rake over exposed skin, as much as he could despise it at times, he was never able to get enough of him, never able to be satisfied for more than a day.

He pulled the blade from Logan's thigh, flipped it around in his hands and slowly lowered it to the top of the desk, but Logan wasn't stupid, he still didn't move, he knew that the brunet would have more than a simple knife pointed at his body again with his almost unnatural reflexes.

Hands raked over skin, fingernails dug into skin, drawing a hiss from Logan's lips, a hiss that had Julian's own lips curl into a pleasant grin, and he let his fingers dance over the skin on Logan's chest down to his waist, hooking his thumbs under the waistband of those dark pants.

"Get onto the bed.” another order left Julian's mouth and he stepped back from between Logan's knees, taking up the shiny blade again and pointing it towards the bed in the corner. Logan got from the desk, but in the second his feet touched the floor, his body moved and his hands snapped out and a knife went flying.

Julian crashed against the closet doors, a groan escaping his lips as the taller and stronger body caged him against the piece of furniture, but as Logan's hands took a strong hold of his upper arms, he brought their bodies almost flush against each other.

And the grin that fell over Julian's lips again dripped with satisfaction and mirth as he felt Logan suddenly rock hard against him.

"I always get to you.” he sneered in a self satisfied and overly confident voice that was so known to him, Logan glared, but edged a leg between his thighs, giving a sharp thrust up.

Sharp nails raked over his stomach as Logan reached down to pull up his shirt, roughly and never gentle at all, tugging and pulling it over the smaller boy's head, and then he brought their chests flush against each other once again, but this time Julian threw his head back, the heat between them, it was almost unbearable.

Lips attached themselves to his neck and mouthed at his throat while Logan rutted against him with sharp quick thrusts, and Julian was almost convinced he could kiss any kind of control goodbye, when Logan suddenly pulled away and backed up towards the bed without saying a single word.

Green eyes never leaving his, blown so wide already, lips parted, breath coming in quick pants, the blond king sat down on the edge of his bed and placed both hands behind himself, leaning back on them. Still leaning back against the closet himself, Julian needed a moment to wrap his head around the invitation.

But when it clicked, when his brain made the connections between him being free to move and Logan basically offering himself, it doesn't take long until he lets actions follow, and with a knife pressing against the blond boy's wrist, he was soon straddling him and capturing his lips in a bruising kiss.

He was in control, for once, and his body responded in a way Julian hadn't felt it in a long time, with the power cursing through his veins, he became more confident with what his mind was offering him in ideas. Leaning back and ending their kiss, he used both hands and the knife to push at Logan's chest, pressuring him to lay down on his back.

"I'll make you forget.” it was merely a whisper in the room, but Logan still raised an eyebrow, and Julian was reminded that even if his body melted under him, followed his movements and went obedient, Logan's mind would never break. Not even for him. But his words still sounded more like a threat than a promise, and he had to grind down twice to make the eyebrow disappear again.

"Do what you think is necessary.” and for a second Julian froze over Logan, hips pressing down on him, because Logan's voice was soft and almost begging, as if he wanted nothing more than to forget, it was the closest thing to admitting weakness he had ever done, and Julian wouldn't let it get to waste.

Five minutes later, he is still wearing his pants, but his shoes are lost somewhere in the room, just like every single piece of Logan's clothing. Pale hands had been tied to the bed posts under much protest, vocal and physical, and Julian had only won by using mean tricks, only one of them including a gun pressed to Logan's temple. They had always been rough and violent, and he knew that Logan needed it now, needed to feel, needed to realize he was still human.

Eyes falling shut and hands twisting around in the rope, Logan groaned as soft lips wrapped around the head of his cock, and he felt the tension draining from his muscles finally as a soft voice started humming, hands moving up to scratch over his stomach.

Rough. Always rough.

Because this wasn't something. This would never be something. It was sex.

And sex meant nothing.

Sex was just a tool.

Nothing more.

But when Julian's tongue dipped into the slit and the bliss crashes over him, while a hand roughly drags itself over his thigh, while he is bound into helplessness, his mind can't help but wander. You would never let anyone else do this to you. Why is he different? Why do you give him control?

Because it was worth it.

He slowly started to thrust up into the warm cave around his cock, but Julian chuckled and used one hand to press his hip back onto the back and the other one to press cold steel against the inside of his right knee. Logan froze, and Julian stilled. The knife slowly edged higher.

With an obscene wet pop, Julian pulled away from his cock and raised his head to look at him, smirk in place, sepia eyes dancing with mirth, this was payback. And even with his cock complaining about the lack of friction and warmth, Logan managed to gasp through his arousal and held Julian's gaze as the tip of the sharp blade arrived at the inside of his thigh.

Just inches away from his sensitive cock. And with a little more pressure, it cut into his skin and drew blood, a small single drop running down the blade's gleaming side. Logan hissed as the pain cut through the lust, but it only heightened his arousal and his cock twitched.

Julian grinned.

No words passed between them as the brunet leaned back down between the blond's legs again, swallowing around his cock in the next second while turning the blade a little to the side, making Logan see stars behind his quickly closed eyes.

And as Julian's tongue moved, so did the blade on Logan's thigh, slowly writing the message into creamy skin.

Mine.

Only Julian used other means to get it across. He didn't need words to claim him. And claiming him he did, as he looked at the red J on white skin, clean cut, no blood smearing over it, and his ears picked up Logan's frantic gasps for breath.

At his mercy.

And his brain yelled at him again, claim him, he is yours, make him yours, you want it. You want him. He had to close his eyes for a moment again, when his emotions dared to flare up, and as a way to distract himself from his own thoughts, he set the blade to the second letter he needed, Logan rising higher and higher beneath him.

L.

The second letter was just as perfect as the other one, and Julian couldn't help the smug grin falling over his lips while he sped up around Logan's cock, grinding his own hips against the fabric of his pants and the mattress beneath himself, and it was in that split second of distraction that he dropped the knife onto the ground and Logan tore through the ropes binding him to the bed.

A safety pin clicked and a blink of his eyes later Julian was facing the end of Logan's gun.

A hard and violent struggle later the gun was secured and dropped again, he was pinned to the bed, pants gone, Logan's hand wrapped around his cock with heavy strokes and demanding lips pressing a bruising kiss against his own. Julian knew it was over, his short moment of control, it was gone, but as he glimpsed down and caught sight of the red on Logan's thigh, he knew it had been successful, he had gotten what he wanted.

Head falling back into the pillows, he grinned in pleasure as Logan's right hand was not all too gentle in slipping two fingers into him, but he still moaned, still halfway stretched from their quick round earlier. Logan realized it as well, and with a hot groan added a third finger, working him open with quick strokes.

Tongues battling for dominance.

"Fuck me.” he didn't even know he had spoken the words out loud, gasped between two breaths, but Logan hummed against his throat and slipped his fingers out of him, shifting lower, he immediately replaced them with the head of his cock. Thrusting inside with one quick snap of his hips, and Julian arches his back.

It's quick then, hard and fast. Hands grasping shoulders, teeth biting into skin. Both of them thrusting hard against and into each other. As if they were both running away from something, as if only their release and pleasure would be able to make them forget.

And for a moment it worked. Just for that sweet moment where Julian felt it all fall away from him, when all that counted were Logan's hand around his cock, his thumb stroking over its head, his teeth biting deep into Julian's shoulder. His cock repeatedly hitting his prostate. For just a moment it was enough and he screamed. Screamed himself through his release as he fell over the edge with Logan still thrusting hard into him.

It took Logan barely three more thrusts until he was coming, too, and when he tried to roll to the side, arms trembling under the strained effort of keeping his weight from crushing onto the smaller boy beneath him, Julian quickly reached out to keep him where he was, not understanding the gesture himself.

And their eyes locked.

In one second Julian tried to catch his breath, sepia eyes gazing up at the boy above him, whose chest was still rising with heavy pants of breath, whose green eyes are staring right back into his, and in the next second as the shot rings out, he has the safety of the gun unlocked and it pointed right at the door. Above him, Logan had gone as rigid as him, butterfly knife pointed at the single window.

"Where did that come from?"

"Outside. East."

With a hiss escaping Julian's lips, Logan slipped finally out of him, condom discarded in the trash can in record time and even when he was still sitting up, Logan was already throwing his clothes at him.

It wasn't as if they ever cuddled or even spoke a single word to each other after sex, but a shooting or even a security breach was the last thing Julian was interested in now, he hadn't come that hard in weeks.

But as another shot rang out, sounding much closer this time, even Julian's limbs started answering his brain again, and he got dressed with the basics in record time, hurrying to join Logan at the window, where the other boy was peeking out behind the curtains, fingers absentmindedly assembling the Smith & Wesson. 

Julian kept his gun trained on the door, as they shifted their bodies a little so they were standing back to back, "What do you see?” he asked, voice dropped to a whisper.

"Nothing, too dark.” Logan answered him and let the curtain fall close again, in the next moment both their heads snapped around as steps closed in on the door from the corridor, and two guns clicked simultaneously as the door handle moved down.

"Don't shoot. It's me.” Derek's voice had their fingers secure their weapons again as he slipped into the room, closing the door quietly behind himself again, he was holding his own gun, rifle strapped to his back.

"What happened?” Logan demanded to know, slipping the knives into his belt and his ammunition into the back pockets of his jeans. Derek turned to properly face them and both of them froze as they became aware of the seriousness in their best friend's face.

"It started from behind the Windsor border, someone shot at Hummel and van Kamp in their room. We don't know if they’re alive. And then Hanover got set under heavy gun fire. Bailey is switching back and forth between his cameras.” Derek quickly explained while another set of shots rang out outside the house, sounding closer.

"So who is shooting at us now?” Julian wanted to know, pushing his hair back to slip the black hood over his head, he then walked over to the couch and quick fingers opened the rifle case.

"We don't know.” was Derek's honest answer and Julian and Logan both swivelled their heads around to look at him, where the blond king had looked out of the window again, but while he frowned and turned even more silent, Julian opened his mouth for a quick disbelieving comment.  
"You...” that got interrupted even faster by Logan before the mood turned even sourer.

"Get Austin into the basement, with Eric, Milo, Nick and Thad, get enough guns and ammunition into their hands to shoot off an army.” Derek nodded, "Tell Marcus to take some boys and score out what happened in Windsor, I need to know. Someone wake Jason and send him up into the nest, Bailey stays with his cameras and on contact responsibility. Call Lawrence to warn Gallagher. Then you'll meet us in five minutes at the backdoor."

"Logan..."

"I've sat still long enough. We're going to find out what those people are capable of."

And as agreed or better say ordered to, Logan and Julian met Derek at the backdoor, the house around them was eerily silent, almost every boy placed to defend their house or out on the grounds to secure their lines.

Three more shots had rung out since they had left Logan's room, and though they had not gotten any closer, there was no felt relief or sense of secured safety in their minds. The Ghost's threats and attacks hadn't stopped at Stuart’s borders, and if these unknown people had anything to do with him, they wouldn't either. No words passed between them as they checked over their guns again, only a small glance between Logan and Julian as Derek opened the door and they slipped into the darkness.

"Do you have a plan?” Julian wanted to know as his eyes turned to glance into the dark corners behind the old oak tree at the back of their home, Logan pushed the hood of his own jacket firmly over his pale hair and then flipped out a knife, Derek silent on his other side.

"We lure them towards us, let them think they have won.” Derek nodded in approval, "I want to know who they are. We need faces to the names we already know. I need more information, they can give them or pay with their life. No one steps onto my country unwelcome and leaves alive. Not if I have any say in it.” he snarled in the end of his speech, "Call my phone once you're on the hill and set it on mute for your side. Wait for my signal.” green eyes met sepia ones as both boys looked at each other.

"20 seconds?” came the question from Julian, Derek raised his gun as they came closer to the clearing in the forest between their and Hanover's grounds.

"20 seconds.” came the answer from a voice hardening more and more by the second, and then Julian turned left, disappearing behind the closest tree.

\- - -

Half an hour later, they were trapped.

And if they weren't fighting against ghosts, their plan might have even worked. Well... in a way it would still work out for Logan, but the price would turn out to be very high.

"Drop the gun.” the voice by his right ear demanded again, muffled by the mask, but Logan didn't even think about following orders, even though the blade dug harder against his throat, he kept his own gun pointed at the men holding Derek to the ground, pressing his face into the dirt. His friend wasn't moving anymore and Logan could only pray that it was an act only.

"I said drop it!” the unknown voice snapped again, but Logan stayed calm, he could almost feel the nervousness of the man behind him, he would only have to wait for the beginner's mistakes to show up, he never even thought about it being an act.

"Dream about it.” he sneered, and only years of self control when faced with threats to his own life stopped him from wincing as the blade cut into his skin.

First rule: Don't draw blood too early.

"It's not gonna happen. You have 20 seconds to lay down your weapons and kneel, or you die!” spoken in the calm and measured voice of a boy who knew how to lead because he wanted to, because he had fought to gain his rightful place at the top.

His attacker snorted.

Second rule: Never, never ever show emotions.

But in that moment of his eyes switching back and forth between Derek's unmoving body and the darkness surrounding them, Logan had forgotten about rule number three.

Never think you got it all figured out, always wait for the plot twist.

And he had never thought of the possibility of being played himself. Too cocky and self absorbed by his own power, Logan wasn't even able to see the grin behind his attackers mask, he had run into the biggest mistake himself. It was too late, the blood was flowing.

A small distance away the lean brunet boy had thrown himself to the ground some minutes earlier, Kate positioned within seconds, jacket thrown over his head in the next, and with his phone laying on the muddy ground under his chin, he waited.

Waited until the order came.

"20 seconds.” Julian mumbled to himself not a second after Logan had spoken, "What is it with you and 20 seconds, what has you so obsessed with that number. Stop being so freaking generous when they point a gun at your head, or a knife to your throat.” but he still shifted lower to get more comfortable and took aim.

Logan wouldn't be able to hear him, there were 160 feet between them, his phone was on mute on his side of the deal, but even if he had been able to, Julian was quite sure he would have just ignored him. Logan only listened to words he wanted to hear.

He stopped breathing and started counting.

Back down on the clearing, Logan just rolled his eyes, "I say it one more time, slowly, just for you, either you...” the shot rang out before he could have finished his sentence, approximately three seconds too early, his attacker stilled for a second, but then the knife dropped from his neck and a body followed not a second later.

Another shot rang out and killed both of the other men with one strike and Logan felt something close to relief as Derek rolled to the side in the same second to avoid being crushed by the dead bodies.

But then as they were the only ones left breathing in the dark clearing, he felt a sudden darkness reaching for his insides, his own gun dropped from his hand and as he raised the trembling limb to look at it in confusion and disbelief, his mind started to bend under the fog creeping over him.

His fingers were shaking, like a leaf in a light summer breeze and Logan couldn't help but wonder how his own body dared to show such weakness.

"Lo?” green eyes were raised to meet brown ones, where Derek had gotten back to his feet, one foot kicking the guns of his attackers away, always being careful even when the blood was pouring from fatal headshot wounds.

But soon enough Logan's gaze was redirected again, towards the warm feeling on his upper right arm, and he frowned even deeper.

Red.

His shirt was soaked with blood.

His blood.

"Logan, are you...” but just like Logan before him, Derek wouldn't be able to finish his sentence, or if he had Logan hadn't been able to hear it anymore as his eyes rolled back and his body crumpled to the ground.

Not ten seconds earlier Julian's sepia eyes had widened as he had checked over the dead bodies from afar, his eyes had narrowed in on the strange red stitching on the leader's black jacket, and as his mind had puzzled the pieces together, and he had scrambled to his knees and had reached for the phone.

Unmuting the still ongoing call, he had cursed twice before shouting, "It's the Red Viper!” he yelled, one hand already pulling the rifle over his shoulder again, jacket forgotten on the forest floor, he jumped to his feet, phone pressed to his ear.

"Derek, the VIPER!” he repeated his warning, "Logan's been poisoned!” and as he scrambled from his hiding spot, Julian wasn't able to see anymore how Derek fell to his knees next to Logan's convulsing body, but the brunet sniper wasn't even completely on his feet and into his jacket on his mad dash down the hill, when the blunt force of the baseball bat hit him from behind and he dropped to the ground like a dead weight.

The man with the long blond hair – almost looking silvery white in the moonlight – stepped out from behind the tree and nodded for the two hooded figures with the baseball bat to take the boy, his hands held a silver gun, a crowned dragon was branded onto it.

"Take him down into the clearing. Tie his hands up, who knows when he will wake up.” and he pulled the rope from his pockets and threw it over to the black clad brothers of the Night Watch.

Meanwhile down the hill, Derek had fallen to his knees next to Logan's shaking body, hands instantly pressing against his wrist and chest to assure himself of a pulse and breath.

"Logan?” but his frantic question wasn't met with any kind of reaction, and no matter how many times he slapped his friend's cheek, green eyes didn't open, and in all his shock and terror about seeing Logan shaken by the poison in his body, blood still pouring from the shallow cut on his neck, he hadn't sensed the advancing men.

He only because aware that they were not alone any longer when a safety pin clicked somewhere behind him and he jumped to his feet and whirled around with his gun drawn, only to come face to face with a dozen guns pointed his way. A wall of hooded men, black coats over black pants, and in between them the white beast of a wolf, red eyes strikingly visible in the darkness around him.

And where the wild animal was, his owner was never far, and hazel eyes didn't have to search long to spot the man with the wild black locks, the Lord Commander was walking around the wall of his men and Derek immediately aimed his gun on him, the wolf growled.

"I wouldn't do it.” the quiet and low voice of the assassin spoke out as he kicked at the two dead men on the ground, dark eyes coming to rest on Derek's face, behind him, Derek could feel how Logan's body had stopped moving again, and he pushed his foot quickly back against his friends torso to check for breaths.

They came. Not as steady as he would have liked but they were there, "Lower the gun, boy and you'll even get to live.” Derek had the courage to raise an eyebrow.

"More like, lower the gun and he will get to live.” another voice, clearer, stronger and more musical chimed into their one sided conversation and the wall of men pulled apart to show two more dragging and carrying Julian's unconscious self between them, a tall lean man with pale hair following them. He had been the one who had spoken, "Drop the gun, boy, there is no reason more lives have to be taken tonight."

He hates it, but he has no other choice than to drop the gun, "Good.” the second assassin, he couldn't be anyone else but the Dragonprince, sang again in his luring voice, "Now be a good boy and step away from your golden king.” he ordered and Derek raised his other eyebrow as well.

"And what if I don't?” he dared himself to speak, he knew there was nothing else he could have done, they were all alone, no one would hear him scream, and he realized how stupid it had been to grant Logan's wish of not getting any more boys into the danger of getting hurt because of him.

Well look how great that turned out now.

"Rhaegar!” the Lord Commander called out in a sudden raise of his voice and the white wolf stepped forward, passing by Julian and lowering him into an attack position, Derek immediately saw the threat and raised his hands, walking away from Logan.

"Take him.” the words were instantly followed by actions and he was overwhelmed by four men within seconds, hands bound behind his back, mouth gagged and eyes blindfolded, he was struggling as much as he can at the beginning, but the wolf growled whenever he so much as flexed more than a finger and he got the message, so he gave up. "Get them into the car to the other one."

Nobody saw green eyes opening as they pulled their prisoners away, and no one heared the croaking call of Derek's name escaping bloody lips as Logan blinked into the night, the heavy fog over his head making it hard to grant him more than just split seconds of a view around himself. But as much as his body was struggling and fighting to get control back, his mind was still sharp, and the horror knew no limits when his eyes fell upon Derek.

But it still was nothing compared to the ice cold pain that crashed over him as two of the hooded mean around him dragged Julian into view, not moving, he was slumped between them, chin dropped onto his chest, eyes closed and there was a small line of blood dripping down his temple. He wanted to fight, he wanted to scream and cry out his friend's name, but his lips won't open and his arms won't move, and he was caged inside his body, while they took his friends away.

A million thoughts were racing through his mind, coming up with a dozen distractions to give him a chance to save them, but his body didn’t react, stayed unmoving and he was helpless as they took them away, moved out of view. The despair crept into him as his vision blackened around him again and he fell back into unconsciousness. Knowing that now... everything was over.

\- - -

When he came to himself again, eyes blinking against the sudden brightness surrounding him, it takes him some seconds to have his mind catch up with the previous events, but when it did, he tried to push himself to a sitting position, only then realizing he was laying in a bed.

A bed he didn't know. In a room he had never seen before.

And then as a hand came to push him back into the pillows, his instincts had him reach for daggers and his gun, both of which were not strapped to his belt anymore.

"Don't move. It's still in your system. You have to take it easy.” green eyes blinked at the person standing by the bed, one hand still splayed out over his chest, his unclothed chest, and there was an IV line attached to his left wrist.

His fingers stretched and his feet moved again, but the reactions came slow and it still felt like a heavy fog was still floating over his body, pushing him down like the hand he felt physically on his skin, only that his mind had fallen under it as well now, his thoughts came sluggish, and though he remembered what had happened, his head seemed slow in really processing what it meant.

His brows furrowed in confusion, the cut couldn't have been that bad, "What happened?” the haze in his brain was only slowly lifting, slower than he wanted it to, so it took him longer than usual to freeze upon the other boy's serious voice, the straightness in his body, the lack of playfulness in his words. 

"You are really out of it.” but when he did recall his face and name, his body tried in vain to protest again, and the hand on his chest strengthened its hold over him, and it terrified him how weak he was, how easy it was to keep him down.

"Riley?” even his voice is slurred and dopey, and his eyes are falling shut again after being open for barely two minutes and it's Riley's turn to frown down at him, his other hand reaching up to touch Logan's forehead, and the frown deepened.

"Get Danielle, he has a fever.” Lancaster's king called over his shoulder and Logan turned his eyes to the left to see who the second person in the room was, but the boy slipped out of the room before green eyes even made out his hair colour, "Logan?” only when Riley spoke again did he realize that he had closed his eyes again, "Logan, stay with me!” he tried, he really tried, but the weariness fell over him like a tidal wave again, and he was too exhausted to fight against it, even if his mind screamed for him to do so.

Julian. Derek. You need to save them.

But as Riley slapped his cheek in an attempt to bring him back to the land of the waking, Logan's mind drowned out the screams in his own head and he fell under the fog again, fell into dreams of bloodied faces and lifeless eyes, feeling a sense of foreboding.

\- - -

The door of the small, windowless and almost empty dark room opened and slammed against the concrete wall with a loud thud, and the two hooded men dumped the third smaller figure they had been carrying between them roughly onto the ground next to the only other content of the room. A simple wooden chair. The boy with the brown hair continued to stay unconscious, even after his body had hit the cold grey floor, motionless his crumpled body laid on the concrete.

"That's it, boys.” a rough and deep voice spoke out from the doorway, and both brothers of the Night Watch excited the room as the Lord Commander stepped into it, gloved hands reaching for the door handle, "Now, we wait for the boss, and for the kitten to wake up.” dark eyes gleamed behind black hair, "And then we play."

\- - -

It was eight hours after they had brought him into their own house, brought him to Lancaster's medical wing instead of his own rooms, because an injured king in a damaged kingdom was no good, and Riley had ordered his boys sharp and clear to take Logan back to their grounds after they had found Stuart's king motionless and bleeding on the clearing in the forest, not far from where a fire had turned the ground around the white mansion into ashes.

Eight hours. Twelve hours after they had taken Julian and Derek away, and as Logan would soon enough learn, they hadn't been the only ones. Now, the Ghost meant business, there weren't any waiting games anymore. He was out for blood.

Dragging a hand over his face from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head free and his mind in control of his body again, Logan breathed through his nose, trying to avoid looking towards the other king in the room. Riley Paige was standing in front of the window, body tense and arms crossed over his chest as he stared outside, waiting for his wife to leave the room again.

Lancaster's Queen, a former Snake, who had trained to become a nurse before the country had fallen apart, had left the lake house and her sisters as the safety her boyfriend offered her became too tempting. Danielle gifted Logan with another small smile as she collected her medical kit again, pushing everything into the green bag again after she had wrapped a fresh and clean bandage around Logan's neck again, he couldn't give it back to her though, he had too many questions.

He waited to speak until Danielle had left the room again and Ace had closed the door, but then he glued his green eyes to the back of Riley's head and opened his mouth.

"What happened at Stuart? Why am I here? And why is no Stuart around here?” a part of him hoped that Riley would soon enough tell him that Marcus or Cyrus had already organized a rescue mission, that they were almost done with taking Derek and Julian back, but the bigger part of him knew that Riley wouldn't look as tense and rigid then.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"The shooting was a trap. I can only guess, but I think it was supposed to lure you out of the house. For whatever reason they knew you wouldn't just send anybody out there to investigate, they knew it would be you. It was a distraction, they started a fire around the house not long after you were out of earshot. Nick and Thad are in the hospital. And Logan...” Riley turned to look at him again and his eyes were suddenly filled with a fire Logan hadn't seen in him for quite a while, not since that day his father's enemies had killed his brother on Dalton's front steps, and with a jolt he knew what his companion's next words were going to be, and he was already shaking his head before Riley talked.

"They took Austin. Took him to wherever he is holding Julian and Derek."

No.

No, it couldn't be. No. No. No. Oh god no. Not him. Not him as well. No. No.

His mind echoed itself over and over again, it couldn't be, hadn't it done everything to make sure that it would never come to this, he had done everything to ensure that Austin would be kept out of it.

Logan's hands were shaking at his sides while Riley watched him closely for a moment before he continued, "Marcus got away with a graze to his arm. He took control, especially to uphold the picture towards Windsors and Hanover, but I doubt they will realize something is wrong for some more time. They are too focused on Abbot right now. He knows that you are here and that you are okay, Danielle made sure to call him whenever something changed.” Logan nodded, caught in another trance as he slowly got to his feet and walked over to the table where his jacket, knives and guns were placed upon.

And it's there when he finds one of Derek's knives laying among his that it hit him.

"Where is Amanda?” and while he waited for an answer, he prayed and begged, let her be okay, let her be fine, Derek would never forgive you or himself if she got hurt, but fortunately Riley was quick to soothe him.

"Marcus ordered Cyrus to take her to a safe house. It sounded like a backup plan.” relief flooded his veins upon Riley's words, it was indeed a back up plan, one for the very dire situations.

"What are you going to do now?” Riley wanted to know as Logan reached for his knives and plunged two of them back into his boots, and for a moment it was silent between them again as Logan turned the words over in his head and reached for his secondary gun.

"I need to rescue them. It's me he wants, not them. I cannot live a life where they got hurt because of me and I didn't do anything to stop it. I'm going to save them. And end him if I can.” too much time spent with Derek's need for planned out strategy had him brace himself against protest against his sudden and quite unprepared announcement to venture into battle, but Riley staid quiet.

"You are not stopping me.” Logan's deadpanned words were met with a blank stare out of gold-green eyes, and the boy with the brunet hair kept his true emotions behind the poker face.

"No, I'm not.” he hated him for his calm attitude, but Logan knew that deep under all those layers of control and calm and silence and levelheadedness, a dragon was waiting. He had seen it before, the day Jake Paige had been killed right in front of their very eyes, Riley had taken down four of the seven Russian assassins on his own, with his bare hands.

They had respect for each other, more than Logan showed towards Justin Bancroft or had for Charlie Amos, and he knew that the treaty between their houses was in their best interest, but they weren't allies.

Respect didn't mean trust. Acceptance didn't mean helping each other out.

"Why?” Logan wanted to know as he strapped his gun back to his belt, Riley sighed, an unusual move for him and striking green eyes turned to look at him again how the slightly younger boy pushed himself away from the wall to step into the middle of the room, Logan raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not stopping you, because I'm coming with you.” it was spoken in such a calm and decided tone that Logan needed a small moment to process the meaning behind those words, and as he did he narrowed his eyes upon Riley's still impassive face.

"What?” he wanted to know because he hadn't heard anything more stupid in a long time, and that coming from someone who had made an actual effort at diplomacy with Windsors.

Both of them looked at the other one for quite some time, before it was Riley who broke the silence first again, "The Windsors and Hanovers didn't kill my brother, but they stood and did nothing while it happened on the very edge of their territories. Jake might have fallen on neutral ground, but those assassins stood on theirs!” Logan furrowed his brows, not at the returned fire in Riley’s voice, but at the content of his words, he was continuously not making a lot of sense, which was worrisome, because Lancaster's king was usually even more inclined to overthink everything than Derek, and that was a real achievement.

And when then the true meaning sunk in, Logan swallowed and took a step back, one hand reaching for a knife to calm his nerves, Riley didn't even blink out of rhythm while his fingers curled around a blade and his eyes widened.

"You think they have something to do with the Ghost?” he had to, there was no other way his words would make sense, changing the topic from Logan's preparations to go after his nemesis back to their inner kingdom struggles.

Riley waited another moment until he answered and as always, he chose his words carefully, Logan hated it more and more, he wanted to know what was really going on in the other boy's head, not what Riley was willing to show to him, "I don't know, but I do know that there have been several strange occurrences in both their houses in these past weeks, all of them happening since you told me about the threats. Look, Logan, we're not allies, this is a purpose only pact, at least until now it was."

If the situation had been any other, and he hadn't been preoccupied with thoughts about Derek, Julian and Austin probably being tutored at this very moment to get more information about him, he would have congratulated Riley about his sudden change of mind, but as it was he could only stare for a moment until his tongue caught up.

"Three months ago you told me that allying yourself with Stuart would bring too much disorder into this war.” he reminded Riley of his words in the message he had sent back with Marcus seven weeks ago, words which had made Logan think about their situation again, words which had changed his own opinion about an alliance again.

"Three months ago my brother was alive and Windsor wasn't planning on overthrowing you and taking Stuart down.” Riley doesn't say anything new to him, but it still sets Logan completely on edge again, because hearing it from someone else than his own boys, it only brought more truth to it.

The clock was ticking.

For him.

For Amos.

For all of them.

"I'm coming with you. You won't be able to stop me or keep me here, and I will send Ace to notify Marcus and bring backup. We'll get them back.” and it's as easy as that, there aren't any stupid contracts Derek would have probably pulled from his pockets, there are no stupid movie quotes Julian would have pulled out from somewhere, just simple but clear words and a short handshake.

Alliance.

Stuart and Lancaster were allies now.

\- - -

It takes them a couple more hours until they are crouching behind an old burned out car in front of an even older abandoned warehouse complex on the far outskirts of Westerville, on the horizon you could already see the dark smoke from the factories in Columbus. Time that Riley had needed to convince his boys to let him go alone and wait for his orders, time that Logan had needed to do the same with Marcus via phone.

And time they had spent sitting in a car on the drive to the place Riley suspected as one of their many hideouts, and they had even been lucky, because the guards standing outside the ugly brick building would not secure an empty hall. The Ghost didn't have that many men to spare.

Riley was assembling the rifle he had taken from the armoury, neither of them were the best long distance shots, trained and built for hand to hand combat and quick short distance fights, but they had to take their chances now. Logan couldn't risk Julian and Derek, let alone Austin to get hurt. He was grateful for the level-headedness and the calm Riley radiated, he needed it to keep his mind focused on the mission and to not fall into an angry rampage of destruction.

Riley had thought things over and actually made a plan in the car somehow, he had even brought spare guns for the rescued boys, which was even more comfort for Logan, because if Riley thought them to still be able to hold a gun, it was one less person thinking about torture and pain.

"Here goes nothing.” Riley mumbled to himself as he took aim with the rifle, and though it took him two more shots than Julian would have needed, the guards soon crumbled down like cards, and they wait for another short moment until they emerged from their safe spot.

Guns drawn. Eyes wide open.

"How many more?” Riley directed at him and Logan shrugged his shoulders, there had never been a pattern, they had worked alone, as a duo, as a trio or as a large group until now, no one could tell how many of them would crawl out of their dark holes this time, "Guess we'll have to take it as it comes.” Logan rolled his eyes and pushed Riley to walk towards the side entrance of the warehouse.

They either had left or it was another trap was Logan's first thought about finding the small entrance corridor empty upon breaking in the door, and he wasn't so sure what he would prefer. They moved quickly and quiet and searched through the hand full of rooms that they passed on their way to the grand warehouse hall at the end of the corridor, but they found absolutely nothing. Until they reached the open doorway that lead to a wide set of stairs.

The grand and almost empty warehouse laid before them.

Empty safe for some shelves and an unmoving figure tied and chained to two steel pillars in the middle, and his brunet hair gave him away.

Derek.

Though his insides screamed at him to get down to his friend, to make sure that he was okay, that it was only an act, head low, chin resting on his chest, weakly hanging onto his restraints on either side of him. Oh please let it be an act. He may be seen as ruthless and soulless to his enemies, but Logan knew that without Derek and Julian, he would be nothing anymore, he would turn into the monster Amos made him out to be.

Riley motioned for him to take the right side, and quickly they moved again like ghosts in the shadows, checked out any potential hiding spaces, and it was only when Riley called out a "Safe" from the other side of the warehouse that Logan whirled around to hurry over to Derek, whose head had snapped up upon hearing a familiar voice.

He was bound to both pillars by his wrists, thick ropes cutting into his skin, both feet were still standing on the ground, but pulled apart as far as necessary to have the handcuffs bind them to the base of the pillars, leaving Derek spread-eagled between them. Dropping the bag to the ground, Logan pocketed his gun once he was close enough and reached up a hand to Derek's face.

"Are you okay?” concerned Logan turned Derek's head to the side to look at the rapidly forming bruise on his left temple, but Derek still managed to nod, the relief was obvious on his face, and when Logan's other hand finally cut through the white fabric used to gag him Derek took a deep breath. "What did they do to you?” Logan tried to keep his nerves at bay when he pulled a water bottle out of their bag and uncapped it, holding it to Derek's lips so he could wet his throat before speaking.

Riley was a shadow around them, searching through the corners and shelves to find anything that could give them more information about who they were dealing with.

"Nothing.” Derek croaked and cleared his throat twice until his voice levelled itself out again, "They didn't do anything to me, it wasn't me they wanted.” and Logan felt the ice cold hands reaching for his insides again, "Logan, Julian wasn't with us. When we arrived here, they bound us to these pillars, back to back, before they disappeared again. I wasn't gagged then, we could talk.” Riley came to stand next to Logan as Derek started to explain, "We stopped once on our way here, Austin wasn't blindfolded, he said it was somewhere around the train station. Jules was still unconscious when he took him again.” Derek stopped when Logan growled and turned to his right to punch the closest shelf.

"Who took him?” Riley wanted to know, reaching for the bag, Derek kept his eyes on Logan breathing heavily in an obvious attempt to reign in his anger, but he still answered.

"The Lord Commander. Austin said he did it himself, didn't let any of his men do it.” when Logan's eyes swept around the room once before coming to rest on his face again, Derek knew what he was going to ask, so he answered before his king could form his question out loud, Riley was still rummaging through his bag, "They came back some hours ago, I don't know how long ago. The Dragonprince had some men with him, they took Austin away. I haven't seen or heard anything of them after they gagged me.” Logan dragged both hands over his face.

Nightmare. It was all a horrible nightmare.

"Is anyone hurt? Austin said something about a fire.” it was Riley who responded to Derek's question, once again turning the attention towards him where he was still kneeling on the ground before Derek, working with a hairpin on the handcuffs on Derek's right foot.

"No one is seriously hurt. They'll be okay. Marcus took control after I send Ace to notify him that Logan was hurt but would pull through soon enough. Cyrus brought your sister into safety. And don't worry, Windsor and Hanover won't know what happened or what we're doing now.” upon the weird phrasing in his last statement, Derek whipped his head back up again and looked to Logan for explanation.

"We made an alliance.” the blond calmly stated and hazel eyes popped open in shock or surprise, while Riley pulled out a sharp knife and walked around the first pillar to free Derek from his restraints.

"You did what?” it burst from Derek in obvious annoyance, Logan rolled his eyes, knowing what was to come, "I get captured for like sixteen hours and you finally see reason for allying yourself with Riley? The next time I think about proposing something like this, I will just stage my own kidnapping instead of talking sense into you! Fucking hell, Logan!” and once Riley had cut the wires strapping his arms to the pillars, Derek jumped away from them and flexed his limbs, getting a half meant punch in on Logan's shoulder in the process.

But the small moment of reunion was quickly broken when an explosion sounded from outside the warehouse and a window broke on the walkway on the eastern wall, Logan whirled around and pushed Derek behind himself while he drew his gun. Riley pulled his spare weapon from under his jacket and threw it to the brunet.

"Taking a lucky guess here, but I think that was your car.” Riley snorted upon Logan's dry comment and pulled out another set of bullets for the rifle on his back, Derek immediately reached for them, the black gun disappearing in his jacket.

"Gimme that. Neither of you would be able to hit a red flag if it was waved right in your face.” a round of shots fired against a metal door were the only thing stopping Riley from cutting back with a snarky comment of his own.

"Hold them off until the rest arrive.” it was hard to ignore the fact that Derek ground his teeth together when he shouldered the rifle, how he looked dead on his feet, but Logan had to trust him now, had to trust in his strength, they didn't have the time to go easy on him now. They needed to find Austin and Julian, and at least one of them seemed to still be in the same area as them, so Logan turned to face Derek, Riley raised his gun towards the entrance they had come from.

"Where did they take Austin?” Logan demanded to know as the sounds of crashing and shots got louder and Derek quickly pointed towards the open doors on the left, leading to a long corridor, while he loaded the rifle Riley hands him, "Hold them off as long as you can.” he called to them and Riley nodded, and then Logan ran off. Ran along the corridor the second he was sure of it being empty and checked every single door left and right, but he didn't find anything until he got to the very last door. And as he opened it, he could distantly hear the first shots from Riley's Magnum, and in the next second it was all wiped from his mind.

There was blood everywhere, as if the floor itself had been painted with the scarlet liquid, and it dropped from the ceiling, ran down the walls in horrifying rivers of red. And in the middle of the room, chained to the chair, with his arms behind his back, the pale boy, skin so strikingly pale against the blood all around him, looked at him out of empty blue eyes. Blond hair was smeared with blood, it ran down his temples onto his cheeks.

Sixteen hours.

Ten hours too late.

"Austin?” rushing forward and ignoring all possible dangers and hidden traps, his fingers quickly reached out to cup his brother's face, thumbs stroking the blood away, fingertips gently prodding over his temples and head, but he found no injuries, "What did they do to you?” he wanted to know, but there was still no reaction from the young boy, blue vacant eyes still followed his movements sluggishly.

Logan moved on, padded down his brother's chest and legs, walked behind him to cut through the ropes binding his hands together, but even there he found no injuries, Austin's wrists were reddened from the rope, but he wasn't bleeding.

Not his blood.

And the relief flooding his veins, the sheer relief that his brother was not seriously injured, it granted Logan the exit out of the panic mode, crouching down in front of Austin again, he cut through the rope binding the other boy's feet to the legs of the chair, and then he looked up again, cradled his smaller hands in his stronger ones. Austin remained sitting limply on the chair.

"Whose blood is this, Aus? What did they do to you? What did they want?” he didn't ask if he was alright, because it was so obvious that he wasn't, his baby brother's blue eyes had so much trouble focusing on his face and Logan cursed these people to hell again, what had they done to him.

"Don't turn around.” Austin's voice croaked and even though he looked horrible, beaten down and so utterly defeated, even though his voice showed how much it hurt for him to speak, and Logan furrowed his brows at the choice for his first words, and it pained him to go against his brother's wish in a moment like this, but his instincts called for him to eliminate every kind of potential danger. And so, within the blink of an eye after Austin's words, he whirled around with a gun drawn and looked right at the black flat screen.

Where the hooded figure that plagued all his nightmares for months already was more or less facing a camera. A thick shadow hiding his face under the dark blue hood. Logan was frozen.

"Lo...” but Austin's protest, his feeble attempt to pull on Logan's sleeve, it was all too late, because the horribly computer changed voice of their ghostly enemy started talking, 

"Think of it like a chess game. You don't go after the King, too complicated, too time consuming, and he's useless anyway. You take out the Queen though, and your enemy's defences fall apart.” the screen turned to static for a moment and then cleared to show a tanned hand laying in a puddle of blood.

"No.” Logan could hear his own voice whisper, his blood turning to ice, his ears started ringing as his eyes zeroed in on the silver ring. The silver ring with the stone the colour of his eyes.

Julian's eyes.

"Check, Wright. Your move."

The pitiful creature has barely finished speaking when the gunshots already whipped around the corridor behind the open door, and then the sound of a flash grenade hitting the concrete floor in the doorframe reached Logan's ears, just that in that second he needed to react. Grabbing Austin's arms, he roughly pushed him from the chair and threw them to the ground, moving to protect his brother's already beaten body with his own.

The flash grenade exploded in the moment that Logan tugged Austin's head against his chest and leaned his own forehead onto the ground, closing his eyes. The heat of the small explosion washed over his back and he gritted his teeth in order to not scream out and give their position away as the storm of bullets raged over them.

For two minutes straight as the thick fog clouded the room into white blindness, the semi automatic weapons shot bullet after bullet into every edge of the room except for the part of the floor where they were hovering. Logan could feel his brother's heartbeat start to race again, and he tried to tighten his hold.

He would protect him. He would not fail him again. Never again.

And suddenly there was silence again, just as quick as the chaos had fallen over them, and Logan waited another minute until he slowly looked up, around them the fog slowly moved towards the air vents, the back wall and the chair was perforated by bullet holes.

He moved to turn around and motioned for Austin to stay down, reaching for his gun, green eyes still widened as he saw the hooded men dead on the ground, but when footsteps sounded, he still had his weapon clicked and aimed before he had moved into a comfortable crouching position.

"Don't shoot! It's me!” and Marcus stepped into the doorframe, Ace hot on his heels, and when Logan lowered his gun, they quickly moved into the room, leaning down to pull Logan and Austin to their feet, "They set a fire. We have to get out of here."

\- - -

Two hours away, or in other words, on the far side of town, a Snake had found her way into the old abandoned church, dropping bow and arrows on the first bench on the great hall of the Old Catholic cathedral, she stretched her arms over her head and slowly walked down the aisle up to the broken altar.

It had been their secret meeting place – their sanctuary – these last months, their visits becoming more regular as the tension among the kingdoms rose and the Snakes couldn't find themselves entirely independent anymore, and for her goddamn luck, her leader had chosen the enemy.

It wasn't that Mel disliked Stuarts in general, it was just if she had had the choice, she would have sided with Windsor, and at least their people did not betray each other on a daily basis. Leaning back against the broken stones of the old altar, she let her eyes wander around the former beauty of the church while she waited for him.

For him. For Dwight.

She had stolen herself away when Franzi had send the girls to grab more fire wood and had taken a shower herself, only then had she dared to slip away into the dark forest surrounding their house, unaware of the dangerous forces moving in the other direction. She had been too focused on why Dwight would get into so much potential trouble by reaching out to her via phone while she was at the lake house, surrounded by people openly disliking anyone else but Stuarts and Lancasters.

It had been urgent, he had continuously pressed, he needed to see her immediately, but now he was apparently the one running late, so Mel tapped her fingers slowly against the stone.

Ten minutes later the thick door at the entrance of the church opened and heavy boots started walking in the shadows, she would have tensed up if her ears hadn't caught onto the familiar footsteps so quickly. Dwight came into view not a moment later, black hair halfway in his face, hiding his eyes in a grey shadow, but she could still tell that he was looking at her.

And what had her furrow her brow immediately was the black crossbow raised and aimed at her, "Dwight. It's me. I came alone, like you asked.” very slowly raising a hand in a defence position, Mel tried to hide the fear bubbling up in her, why did he look so tense. Dwight didn't give her a chance to ask anymore though, because with a small click, his fingers pulled the trigger and the bolt raced towards her with a speed that made it unable for her to jump aside anymore, frozen in her horror and shock as she was.

It embedded itself in her chest and her body didn't even have the time or chance anymore to scream, so with a choked up gasp she slid to the floor, brown eyes falling on the figure of her boyfriend slowly walking towards her, his black coat moving behind him.

Dwight dropped the crossbow onto the last bench and then fell to his knees beside her, pulling her into his lap, cradling her close to his chest as she felt the blood filling her lungs. He was crying, she only then realized, heavy sobs ripping through his body, tears falling down his face, until now hidden by the thick strands of black hair, and she tried to reach a hand up to touch his face, painting it red with her own blood from where she had previously clutched at her chest with both hands.

"I'm so sorry.” the boy gasped close to her face as she coughed, blood dripping down her chin and he buried his face in her face, "I'm so sorry.” he cried and Mel could feel her eyes starting to drop, taking an ounce of her last strength, she opened her mouth again.

"Why?” she croaked out, and Dwight pulled back to look into her face, his dark eyes filled with tears, his face looked ashen with grief and regret.

"Someone told Charlie about us. I don't know who, I don't know why. But he told Marius to get you, to find you and take you. He knows the Snakes have basically allied themselves with Stuart, he wants information, and I couldn't let him take you. He would have tortured you. I couldn't let him. I'm so sorry.” he dropped his forehead against hers while he cried and spoke in his broken voice, his tears falling onto her face, but she could barely feel it anymore, "I'm so sorry, Mel. I'm so sorry, but I can't let them hurt you. I had to save you.” he stroked through her blond hair, "We'll be together again soon, I promise."

She couldn't feel her body anymore, couldn't even feel the pain anymore, she just saw his face hovering above hers and she knew it would be alright, she knew that soon enough she would be in a better place, far away from this cruel and horrible place.

"Forgive me.” he started begging her then as her breaths already turned ragged, "I love you, Mel. Please forgive me, but I needed to save you.” despite the struggle she had to breathe, she managed a small smile, her hand slipping from his face as his arms tightened around her.

"I forgive... you...” Mel croaked out and her last breath left her in a small choke, and then she grew still, brown eyes staring into his face unseeing, and Dwight threw his head back and screamed.

Two months later:

"What do you want me to do?” Derek screamed and whirled around to slam Marcus against the closest wall, the other boy took the force of the impact with a cool face, he had seen it coming for days already. Their brunet leader glared at him from bloodshot hazel eyes, deep bags under his eyes, his face so pale from endless sleepless nights.

Behind him, Nick and Thad shifted uncomfortably in front of Logan's desk, not really knowing if they should hurry to their captain's help or just look on while Derek finally worked through his fury.

"What is there to do?” Stuart's Hand went completely rigid and yelled right into his face, eyes blazing with a fire Marcus hadn't seen in him in weeks, "The girls are dead! Julian is dead! Logan is captured! Taken to a place we don't have the smallest idea about. And it's just a matter of time until they start sending us more than just strands of fucking hair! And Austin...” he stopped and both of them looked around to the bed, Derek breathing heavily, more supporting himself against him by then than pressing him against the wall.

And on the bed, Austin Wright continued to stare at the bright blue book in his hands, quietly humming to himself, completely unaware of anything around him.

"It's over, Marcus.” and ever so slowly Derek sank to his knees right in front of Marcus, open palms falling to the ground, "We're lost."

To be continued in Act II: The Ghost, Part I: Shoot them!


	5. Chapter 4

Act II: THE GHOST

Part I: SHOOT THEM

Previously on "A Game of Kings"

"Logan, Julian wasn't with us. When we arrived here, they bound us to these pillars, back to back, before they disappeared again. I wasn't gagged then, we could talk.” Riley came to stand next to Logan as Derek started to explain, "We stopped once on our way here, Austin wasn't blindfolded, he said it was somewhere around the train station. Jules was still unconscious when he took him again.” Derek stopped when Logan growled and turned to his right to punch the closest shelf.

"Think of it like a chess game. You don't go after the King, too complicated, too time consuming, and he's useless anyway. You take out the Queen though, and your enemy's defenses fall apart.” the screen turned to static for a moment and then cleared to show a tanned hand laying in a puddle of blood.

\---

Wednesday, 17th October, 6 am

\---

The room was dark, with only a small window close to the ceiling on the wall behind him to let a small amount of light enter the room – barely enough for him to make out the other man's face. He didn't really need to though, his strikingly pale hair gave him away so easily.

"I like the attitude." the Dragonprince drawled again as he walked by his left side, where he was chained to the chair, his head pounding and his neck still throbbing from the choking he’d received, s that he couldn't do more than continuously stare forward at the oddly placed chair directed right towards him, even though his instincts were screaming at him to keep the fire obsessed assassin in view at all times. Green eyes stayed upon the second chair though, while the blood was still drying on his cut lip, and he curled his right hand back into a fist, ignoring the pain that shot through his broken fingers.

"You still think you have a chance to live. Admirable.” the blond man, roughly seven years older than him, drawled in his velvet voice, and suddenly his lips almost ghosted against his left ear, and he had to use a lot of self-control not to flinch. "But pathetic.” he snarled.

Logan gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes at the metallic chair in front of him, the Dragonprince didn't looked like he wanted to sit down anytime soon, circling him like a predator out for hunting for an hour already. So why was there a second chair in the room, why had he had it brought inside and placed right in front of his very feet? It didn’t make sense, and that was what angered him even more, the wild question of the second chair, the rest was just going as expected.

"I don't have any more to tell you.” he snarled, and spit out another mouthful of blood. He had talked, just like Derek had advised him to, if it went according to their plan, none of these lowly assassins would survive the months anyway, no time for them to go around telling secrets to Stuart's enemies. "I told you about the leader, the brains, and the strategies. I told you about our weapons, our plans, even our weaknesses. I told you about my brother. I told you about my friends. There is nothing more for me to tell."

"We'll see about that.” the Dragonprince drawled and moved towards the iron door again, prompting Logan to finally turn his head to follow his steps, "We'll see about that once you see what happens to people who don't talk.” He knocked twice on the door. "Bring them in!"

Of all the things Logan had expected to see, he had not been prepared for what awaited him in the next two minutes. Two of the Dragonprince's men opened the door and three more half carried and half dragged in two figures with bags over their heads, their hands were bound behind their backs, and the smaller one of them was slumped so low that his feet dragged over the ground. They laid him down – his body, broken and haggard as it might be beneath those dirty clothes, looked male – on the ground in the corner of the room, while the Dragonprince roughly yanked the other one to sit down on the chair across from Logan.

Wearing a brown rag of a shirt, the person's hands were hidden from his view while their captor's men bound them to the chair like they had done it with Logan hours earlier, the Dragonprince straightened up again and one hand reached for the bottom of the bag over his prisoner's head, but his violent eyes turned to look at Logan again, who tried to keep every sign of curiosity and confusion from his face. "How about you tell me about the sniper I took from you?” and with one hard pull of his wrist, he yanked the bag off.

And Logan looked into the face of Death.

"Because this one can't stop talking about you.” he heard the words, somewhere in the back of his head, he saved them for processing later, but his eyes couldn't look away from his face, couldn't stop looking into sepia ones. Couldn't stop looking at the dark bags under them. At the hollow cheeks. The pale skin. The bruises on his jaw. The scar on his temple. The cut on his lip.

"I’ll give you two time to catch up, and then we'll see who bleeds and who talks.” Purple eyes glared one last time before the tall man whipped his whole body around and sneered at his men to leave the room, and not a second after, he had also stepped out and the door crashed shut again.

Silence hung over them then, no one said a single word, after so many weeks apart, after so many weeks believing that he had lost him forever, Logan couldn't think of what to say. Sepia eyes looked right back at him, glued to his face like his own green ones onto his. He looked tired, exhausted and so, so done with everything, but it was still Julian looking back at him, after everything they could have possibly done to him, he was still Julian.

Still mine.

Left gobsmacked about his sudden thought for a moment, Logan didn't see how Julian frowned and then licked his lips twice, opening his mouth to finally say the first words, but for everything he had expected, had maybe even hoped for, it was a simple question coming out of formerly soft lips.

"What happened, Logan?” and Logan couldn't help but laugh.

\---

Six weeks earlier

\---

"Don't shoot! It's me!” and Marcus stepped into the doorway, Ace hot on his heels, and when Logan lowered his gun, they quickly moved into the room, leaning down to pull Logan and Austin to their feet, "They set a fire. We have to get out of here."

The sound of gunshots echoed down the corridor as Marcus and Ace ushered them from the windowless room, and Logan tried to hide his grimaces whenever he became aware of the piercing pain in his back, but they were all forgotten again when Austin started swaying in front of him. He and Marcus both quickly reached out to keep him from falling over, while Ace kept his eyes steadily on the far away exit door.

“Get him out of here.” Logan bit out against the throbbing in his back as he pulled Austin upright and held him against his chest for a moment, catching Marcus's eyes in the process. The guard glared.

“No.” He snapped right back. “We are getting both of you out of here.” Marcus held the gaze of angry green eyes with ease, but Logan was distracted once more when Austin pushed at his chest to be let go of.

“I have to look for clues. Get Austin out...” but whether it was the frantic shaking of Austin's head or the verbal negation from Marcus, Logan didn't get to finish.

“There is nothing here, Logan. We came from the back, leaving the other boys behind to keep the dozens of Night's Watch men from stabbing us in the back.” A small explosion rocked the whole building and Logan braced himself against the wall and pulled a gasping Austin closer again.

“Logan, there is nothing here.” Ace repeated Marcus's words once more and reloaded his weapon, Marcus reached onto his back and pulled out the black handgun with the engraved feather. “And if you want your brother alive, we have to go. Now.” for a second Logan thought about throwing back some detailed comments about how much Lancaster's captain could stick his coldness some place special, but then he stopped.

Because Ace wasn't cold. Ace knew what it meant to lose someone who meant more to you than your own life, and even though he didn't know how Logan felt in this, it was still enough to keep Stuart's king silent. Ace had seen one brother fall, he wouldn't see another die.

Marcus, always the sane and patient one, completely ignored the staring match between king and captain and pushed the gun into Austin's protesting fingers.

“Take it, Aus. We'll need to shoot our way through this.” reluctantly Austin took his gun, but frowned down upon it as if he couldn't quite remember what Marcus's words meant.

“Go.” Logan called to both guards, “Go, we'll be right behind you.” Marcus and Ace both nodded as the walls once again shook from an explosion, somewhere not too far off Riley screamed for them, and as both boys took a step or two away from them, Logan curled one hand around his brother's chin and made him look up to him, blue eyes looked terrified.

“Listen, Austin. I don't know what you saw, I don't know what they did to you. But what I do know is that you have to be strong now, or we won't make it out of this, and then you will never get the revenge you need to put this behind you. Be strong, be a Wright and fight.” It almost broke his heart all over again when a jolt went through Austin, and he stood straight all of a sudden. Logan wondered for a split second how many times he saw his father in him, how many times he saw the man in him that scared him to this day.

“Fight.” he repeated his words and Austin nodded, eyes looking much clearer, but Logan still promised himself that he would stay close to him.

When they reached the end of the corridor and therefore the great warehouse hall again, the source of the explosions quickly became obvious and the dire consequences even more so. Someone must have shattered some of the windows on either side of the hall with Molotov cocktails, setting almost every remaining shelf and box on fire, and the dry wooden creations fed the flames with eagerness. Crowding together with Derek and Riley, they oversaw their situation, the direct route to the exit was out of questions, and the intruding Night's Watch brothers had barricaded their way with two quickly bombed out pillars and a high fire burning bright upon them.

Bullets rained their way from time to time from behind the fiery wall, but Marcus and Ace, the fittest among them, quickly took charge of their defense while their two kings wracked their brains for another possible exit, while Derek checked over Austin. Logan's eye wandered to the red steel walkways attacked to the walls of the hall, having formerly been used for the administrative employers to oversee the work down below, they would now provide them with a fire less way to the other side, where the small corridor would lead them outside again, all they would have to count in was the gunshot fire from below.

A loud ruckus had them turn around and peer back into the long corridor at who’s end Logan had found his brother, to see black cloaked men were racing towards them, but Riley pulled out a grenade with a complete ease, as if he hadn't fought against soldiers for half an hour already, and quickly nodding to Logan to get the door, Lancaster's king pulled the pin and then threw the grenade into the corridor. Logan slammed the door shut in the next second and they backed away from it.

The explosion destroyed the simple wooden door as if it was only paper, but it still kept the brunt of it away from them, and behind the hot flames screams of men with burning flesh reached their ears, but Riley and Logan had long ago stopped caring for those who only wanted them dead anyway. You don't give your heart out to people who would not hesitate to push the gun to your head and pull the trigger.

One man though seemed insane enough to brace himself against the fire with his cloak, he jumped out of the golden mess of flames and was about to fire his machine gun when a single shot ran through the air and the bullet his him straight between the eyes, he was dead before he hit the ground. Logan whirled around and came face to face with Austin's determined eyes, Derek next to him was still drawing his gun up.

“Walkway.” The blond king called out, yelling over the sound of the fire eating its way through the warehouse and the remaining handful of suicidal mercenaries who would rather die in the flames than give up on fulfilling their orders. Riley pushed Derek towards the stairs leading up upon the steel construction and Logan made sure that Austin was in front of him, while Marcus and Ace shot two more rounds of bullets at the enemy behind the fire line before they, too, ran up the stairs.

They stopped short on the walkway when they came to crossing in the middle over the hall and they were suddenly surrounded by more hooded men with weapons drawn, but instead of pointing them at their heads they pushed them towards the four smaller figures they dragged with them on their knees.

Bags were pulled over their heads, their hands not visible behind their backs, but what had Derek stop short was the clothes on them, because he has seen them just a day ago when he had escaped from Logan's horrible mood again. He had gotten Franzi that jacket only weeks earlier, and then one more for Ali after she hadn't stopped whining and wailing in his ears about it.

“It's them.” he whispered, half scared out of his mind, to Marcus and Logan on either of his sides, “They have the girls.” 

Logan and Marcus both whipped their heads from one parallel walkway to the other, their eyes flying over the kneeling people but it was so easy to see. “Logan, I will not have them die for us.” Logan took one look into Austin's completely horrified eyes, staring at the kneeling girl with the black hoodie that had belonged into his closet once.

The fire burned even higher, catching the supporting beams to their left, and the air got hotter, making it slowly harder to breathe, they needed to get out of there, but Logan couldn't bring himself to leave the girls to a fate they didn't deserve. He pulled his gun and waved Austin to the right where only one Night's Watch brother was standing behind his two hostages, while on the other side two were holding guns to Franzi's and Ali's heads, and as expected Ace, Derek and Marcus had already taken aim when Riley stepped to them.

“Let me.” Derek whispered in a rush when the click of a safety pin could be heard from across the gap of burning hell, “If we all shoot at once, chances are high we'll hit one of the girls.” Marcus and Ace nodded and lowered their guns again and before Riley could have even thought about a flaw in that plan, Derek pulled the trigger twice and then screamed as the two kneeling people pulled their hoods off, revealing the shaved heads of two sworn soldiers of the Night's Watch, behind them Franzi and Ali both dropped the guns in their hands and fell to the ground with an ear shattering thud.

Marcus and Ace quickly took care of the men drawing their weapon, and in the next second as Derek already turned to run back to where they had come from to reach his fallen girlfriend, there was a loud crash and a burning beam broke away from the ceiling and dropped onto the way back to the girls, blocking all possible ways to them and then, with a loud snarl Ace threw himself at a stunned Derek with knives drawn, Marcus and Riley hurrying over to pull them apart.

At the same time, on the other side of the crossing, Logan hadn't really noticed the reason for the turmoil and kept his eyes firmly focus on checking the dark corners over their heads, while Austin aimed for the unmoving men.

“Shoot them!” came the awaited command from Logan and Austin stopped breathing, pulled the trigger and it was then that he caught sight of the red and gold bracelet on the arm of his hooded target and his heart stopped. Throwing his rifle away, he wanted to sprint over but Logan's hands quickly reached for the back of his jacket and held him back just as Derek's scream reached their ears.

“GET DOWN!” but his scream came too late and in what felt like slow motion the figure in the black coat dropped to the ground, hood flying away and revealing a cascade of dark brown curls framing a pale face he only knew so well.

Austin's shrill scream echoed from the walls and drowned out the deafening sound of the fire cutting through the warehouse for a moment, “Julie!” he kept on yelling, blind to everything but the pain in his heart, so Logan had to push him to the ground when the two humans having previously pretended to be Julie and Donna suddenly wrenched their obviously not bound hands forward, pulled off the bags and fired at them out of machine guns.

Two hands appeared over their heads and fired out of silver guns at the Night's Watch brothers, having them dead within moments, and when the gunfire stopped again and the sound of the fire destroying the pillars and walkways around them became the only sound in the warehouse again, Logan became aware of how silent and still his brother had suddenly become.

And a small line of blood ran down the side of his head into the collar of his shirt as green eyes looked over him, blue eyes were closed, as Austin laid unconscious and limp in his brother's hands. In his shock over his horrible mistake in not noticing this faulty image quicker, he had pushed Austin to the ground too roughly and his brother had hit his head against the box of old rusty pans they had taken cover behind.

He'll never forgive you

It ran through his head at least a dozen times while he stared from his brother to the lifeless body of the brunet girl on the other side of the walkway, and it wasn't until Riley pushed at his shoulder that Logan became aware of the heavy smoke around them and sound of splintering glass over their heads.

They needed to get out if they wanted to live, he needed to get Austin out, he needed to get him home if he ever wanted a chance to make right what he had destroyed today.

You gave the command, Logan. Her life is on your hands. Their lives.

Picking Austin up and once again ignoring the biting pain in his back, Logan looked around until he saw Ace and Marcus pulling Derek towards them, strong arms keeping him upright, all three avoided looking at each other.

“Just let us get out of here.” Riley announced and kicked against the already broken door one last time before it gave away and presented them with the small corridor that had led Logan and Riley into the building before.

As they hurried closer to fresh air and away from the catastrophe that laid behind them, no one noticed how Ace slipped away in the narrow corridor and vanished back into the inferno in the warehouse, sealing his fate with a broken heart and lowering Stuart's and Lancaster's side on the scales even more.

They didn't become aware of Ace being missing until they were out in the parking lot, walking towards their car and Riley called out for Ace to get theirs so that Austin could lay down on the backseat of Logan's. No answer came and when Lancaster's king whirled around, all he could see was the burning building behind Marcus supporting Derek.

Logan had laid his brother to the ground when Riley's choked up gasp reached his ears, but before his mind could make the decision to go to him and demand what was wrong, green eyes spotted the small redheaded girl hovering in the back of a wrecked car not far from them, her pale green eyes fixed upon the burning warehouse.

Curiosity and anger inside of him pushed him to walk over her, leaving Marcus to sit Derek down on the passenger seat before he walked over to Riley, in the distance feet ran towards them and soon enough he could even hear Terri's and Lawrence's voices asking what had happened. Crouching down next to the trembling girl, he kept one ear on the Lancaster's suddenly freaking out over their lost captain, but kept his eyes on paler ones.

“I betrayed them.” it fell out of Donna's lips before Logan could have opened his, “I sold them out. For a chance to find shelter with Windsor. I didn't want to swear my allegiance to Stuart. I hate you guys, all I ever wanted was to be safe in the house my brother died for.” He wondered for a moment if she truly realized who she was talking to, and he frowned when her unfocused eyes returned to the burning inferno. “They knew you would be angry enough to kill them all without taking a second look. And I'm even happy that they are dead. No one can keep me from getting to my true family now.”

He pulled his knife when her babbling became even more strange and weird, and she didn't even struggle in any way when he grabbed a handful of her hair and roughly pulled her head back so he could get back to his feet and tower over her.

“Franzi, Ali and Julie are dead because of you. Ace is dead because of you. Because your silly little girlish dreams were more important to you than showing respect to the girls who saved your sorry little ass more than once. Because of you, every chance of finding evidence of where they had taken Julian is currently burning to ashes!” he snarled at Donna and set the knife to her throat, “Now, who helped you? You weren't able to pull this off alone?”

Donna looked back at him out of hopeless green eyes as she answered, “The Queen. She promises a lot to us girls who don't want to follow Franzi until the bitter end.” Logan cursed, pulled the knife back, only to punch the blade deep into her throat in the next moment, wrenching it to the right to stop her pitiful choking.

You better run, Tess. Fast.

Vibrating with anger on the inside he walked back to his brother and the other boys again, who were half crowding around Riley and the other half around Derek staring into nothingness. Austin had woken up again and was leaning against their car, blue eyes were filled with tears when Logan stopped next to him.

"She never found out who she really was.” Logan sighed and closed his eyes for a second, trying to reign the anger in enough to not scare his brother even more, and when he opened them again, green eyes were far more comforting and soft, and he crouched down next to Austin.

Austin, who was in his mind still staring at the dead girl with the dark brown hair. Austin, whose right hand was still pressed over the spot on his shirt, where a heart was no longer beating inside the chest of the girl he had spent so many nights sneaking out for. Logan tried not to think of her, but the few times he had seen her, they all suddenly came back to him, especially the look in her eyes when they had rescued her from the traders who had killed her sister, having control enough not to openly flinch as he became aware of how similar her eyes looked to Julian's.

It could have easily been him, a voice whispered in his head and he shook his head to get away from those dark and destroying thought, it wasn't him though, he was taken but alive. He caught himself and then turned to his brother again.

"It gets easier.” Logan spoke quietly, somewhere behind them Marcus and Terry walked to the side and talked in hushed tones about organizing a team to go through the warehouse again when the fire had been put out, there was a lot Logan might have turned into since his father had thrust him into this power play, but he would never become a monster. They would find their bodies, maybe only their bones, give rest to those innocent souls, if even only for the reason to keep their dead bodies to become trophies for the enemy.

Curling both hands around his little brother's face, he turned Austin around, blue eyes reluctantly pulled themselves out of his thoughts.

"I didn't want this for you, Aus, I really didn't. I wished Dad would have taken you somewhere else, somewhere where you could have been safe and still a kid, but we have to fight now. It's too late to hide you now, they will come for you, and I have to know that you will be ready.” Austin was the very last person Logan allowed himself to be soft with, because it was true, he hadn't wanted this for his brother, and he cursed his father every single day for sending the boy after him.

Blue eyes looked at him, and the pain was piercing enough in them to reach Logan's already cold heart. "I wasn't supposed to hit her."

"I know. But you did, and you will have to work this out. Now. It will get easier, Austin.” Logan repeated his words again and his brother frowned at him.

"The killing or the guilt?” Austin wanted to know, pushing Logan's hands down again, the shock was still high in his system, but he was already bracing himself against it, pushing it back for later, both of them knew that they weren't safe, that the enemy could be at their heels any second now, and the worst part: Logan didn't even know who would get to them first.

Had word already reached Windsor? How many more men did the Ghost have in the vicinity? Where was he?

"The killing gets easier. The guilt never goes away.” he explained, glancing behind himself quickly when a low growl echoed across the alley, and he could see Thad and Nick backing away from Derek and Marcus quickly hurrying back to him. It should have gone differently, the girls shouldn't have been pulled into this, and Logan swore to himself to hunt Tess down to the end of the world for what she had done. And he would never forgive himself for giving the signal to shoot instead of looking twice, he had let his frustration guide him, he had let the panic inside of him of not knowing if Julian was truly hurt take control.

And now. Innocent people were dead. Derek had killed his own girlfriend and his brother had killed the girl he loved. Ace had thrown himself into the fire again, surely not ready to live on after another loved one had been lost, not ready to live on without Ali, so soon after losing Jake.

Someone would pay.

"The guilt never goes away. The only thing you can do is being stronger than it.” They were the last words Logan would speak to Austin in three days, before he pulled him to his feet and helped him into the car, gesturing for them to leave this rotten place. Fate had taught them a horrible lesson.

But their fate had also been sealed in a conversation held before they had even made a step into the warehouse that had now supposedly brought their doom to them.

\---

27 hours earlier

\---

Having taken a detour to make their way to Lima, Windsor's king had arrived back with his boys with empty hands after intense questioning from both kings had made it obvious that the Lima kids had nothing to do with Danny's kidnapping. Completely unaware of what blow had been dealt to their biggest enemy simultaneously, Charlie ordered Dwight and the twins to meet him in his solar ten minutes after having arrived back home.

He had turned even more paranoid in the last hours, beyond frustrated when their plans had led to nothing, and with Justin choosing to cave inwards instead of openly supporting his theories, nothing really played into his hands anymore. His paranoia was only heightened by the fact that his own Hand found his ideas so ridiculous that he had given up on him for the moment and had chosen to take over the night patrols instead and that his captain was gritting his teeth in open distrust when he stepped into the room.

With both twins flanking him left and right, Dwight chose to ignore him for the time being, walking around the big table until he was standing on the far opposite side. Charlie knew the boy was plotting against him, was slowly trying to win over favors to push him down eventually. He could only really trust one person anymore, and his personal guard Marius stuck close to him these days, he couldn't have wished for a better puppet.

Two minutes passed in silence, the map of Dalton with the figurines splayed out on the table in front of them, until Charlie pulled out a knife and stuck it into the black raven feather.

"Die.” he announced, his voice clear and leaving absolutely no room for questions, but Dwight still frowned down at his hands for a second before he reacted, and both twins shared a quick look behind his back.

"What?” Dwight asked, whipping his head up to stare at his king, who was still staring down at the map on the table, blue eyes almost burning a hole into the paper where their rival king's name was written on it.

"Die.” Charlie repeated again, "Logan Wright is going to die. This war won't be over until he is dead.” his voice was cold and hard, and Dwight narrowed his eyes, and the air in the room shifted completely. Since they had previously been expecting a harsh rebuff against speaking out against him so close to Stuart's territory and in front of a rival group of annoying kids, this new turn back to their king's crazy theories had all of them on edge again.

Both twins and Marius immediately tensed up as the Kingsguard's captain curled a hand around a dagger on the open table, fingers tapping against the black handle with the golden pentagram, the only one he had left.

"You don't mean that.” But no matter how disbelieving his words were, the tone in his voice betrayed just how much he had realized his king's intentions to be true, so he repeated those words a little different, "You don't want that.” He felt like a parrot by now, always repeating the same words, always trying to keep Charlie from making the biggest mistake.

If it came to war, they would all die.

"DON'T!” Charlie suddenly exploded, swiping his hands roughly over the table, throwing figurines and maps everywhere. Marius jumped, but Charlie's blazing blue eyes were only focused on Dwight's shocked ones. "Don't tell me what I want!" 

He drew a breath, before continuing to yell. "You don't get to tell me what we have to do. I will not rest until Logan Wright is dead, and his sickening bunch of minions right along with him. I will not stand by and look on anymore, waiting for the day that justice will be served.” His voice was full of fire, and just for a quick moment, Dwight wondered who was more out of control – the king who was standing before him, or the king who was supposedly plotting all their deaths in the most brutal ways.

"Justice?” Dwight demanded, completely perplexed, "Justice for what?” it was the same conversation as always, but the captain had never heard his king use the word ‘justice’ relating to his theories, because it was completely stupid. There was no justice to be served, no one had done anything wrong, but Charlie was too far gone to see it.

"You know what for.” he snarled and dug his fingernails into the table, splinting the wood even more. Dwight pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.

"Chaz, Logan didn't take Josh from us. He...” but just as the other dozen times before, he wouldn't be allowed to end his sentence, wasn't allowed to share his own theory about their lost prince.

"Logan Wright took my prince. He took Danny...” Dwight groaned upon Charlie's words and slammed his own hands upon the table top.

"We don't have any proof for that.” he reminded his king about their earlier argument right at the very edge of their borders, where Charlie had been so close to ignoring Logan's no to them crossing over Stuart and Lancaster grounds, but while he had listened to him then, he wouldn't now.

"And I bet you, he even has his hands in Jake Paige's murder..."

"That is ridiculous.” was Dwight's immediate response. It was, it truly was, most of all because Riley Paige was the smartest of the four kings, and whatever agreement Stuart and Lancaster had been made, it wouldn't have happened if Logan had anything to do with his younger brother's gruesome death.

"Why? Because it leaves his kingdom with the only crown prince? Because it leaves his kingdom as the only one not falling into chaos when its king dies?"

"Charlie, you are wrong. Logan is dangerous, but he is not out of control. I can't accept this, what you are trying to do is not right. We can't go to war over a theory.” A fist slammed onto the table, making a crack into the wood. Marius almost dropped his gun, and as a shot sounded in the next second, it was a mad scramble for weapons, and Dwight was only slightly surprised when he found Marius and Charlie pointing their guns at him, while the twins were already dashing towards the windows.

It had been a shot fired through the window of Reed's and Kurt's room, hitting their smallest Windsor boy into the shoulder from behind, narrowly missing his heart as they would later learn. With the hospital out of question – everyone knew just how much Riley Paige had taken control over the staff members – Windsor boys moved to help their own.

And Charlie found himself retreating to the rooftop, glaring at the distant sight of Stuart house, it hadn't been a bullet from them, and his mind was turning itself around the information, trying to find a reason why Logan would order someone else outside his kingdom to take a shot at them. It was a weird move and Charlie didn't understand it, he had immediately sent Wes and David over to Hanover to ask around, and the twins into the darkness of their border to keep eyes and ears on any movement from Lancaster or Stuart. The door creaked open behind him and without taking his eyes away from their enemy, Charlie knew only one person would dare to approach him right now.

“What do you want, Marius?” he seethed into the cold wind of the night and the door was pushed shut again, and feet took two steps towards him.

"I'm on your side, remember? I trust them even less than you do, but you are overreacting in this.” Marius dared to take another step closer to his king, and it was only when Charlie's voice rang out over the roof, cold and harsh, that he stopped, three feet behind him. Windsor's king didn't turn away from the edge, didn't stop glaring at Stuart House in the distance.

"I kept you here, even after you dragged in that... boy. I defended you and trusted you. Don't let me regret it. Do not for a second think I owe you anything. You swore an oath to me.” Marius nodded, quickly, even though Charlie couldn't see him.

"I know. And I would swear it all over again. I fight for you, Charlie. Only you. I do as you command, not Dwight or Blaine.” With a fast turn of his legs, Charlie turned to face him, his features devoid of any emotions and Marius swallowed.

"Good, then there are two things you need to do for me.” he would get their loyalty back, he would have them fight for him again, he just needed to remind them what he was capable of. Remind them who was to fear here.

Take away their hearts, so their heads belong to you again.

\---

Wednesday, 17th October, 6:30 am

\---

There was a silence stretched between them when Logan had explained the immediate aftermath of his friends' and his brother's kidnappings, and all the while Julian looked down into his lap and frowned at his lack of memories about that night six weeks ago. He had woken back up in a dark room, on concrete floor, trembling and shaking because of the cold.

Logan's green eyes remained unwavering upon his face as the quiet rustle of fabric on stone alerted Julian's ears to the third person in the room, and twisting his upper body and head around as much as he could, he tried to look at the formerly unmoving body on the ground, feeling green eyes follow him, and then as he spoke, he could feel them widen without even looking.

"Are you okay, Danny?” his voice, scratched and dry as the desert, called into the room and a low grumbling sound escaped the third prisoner until he rolled around, wriggling out of the bag over his head.

It took him a moment but when green eyes looked out of a pale and haggard face, Logan almost gasped, almost lost control over the carefully constructed pokerface.

"I'm fine, Julian.” came the quiet, almost whispered response and Logan had sudden flashes of rooms filled with blood, dripping from the ceiling, running down the walls. Not Austin's. Not Julian's. But the boy laying on the ground before him certainly looked as if he had been through much, blood loss included. What was this pig playing at here?

He couldn't direct his thoughts to Julian or even speak to Danny because the lock of the door rattled again, and they all tensed up as it slowly squeaked open, revealing one of the Dragonprince's men, the little red flame tattooed onto his bare upper arm. The unknown man hid something inside his hand behind his back as his eyes were solely focused on Logan, he walked with quick determined steps until he was standing right next to the blond king, who only grew more rigid and quiet, while the boy sitting across from him showed that his fire was still burning high.

"What are you doing?” the sniper snapped with venom in his voice, and it would have even sounded sincere and dangerous if he wasn't so hoarse, Logan glared at him while the stranger roughly pushed his head to the side and set the syringe in his hand to his neck. Logan grimaced as it pierced his skin, and Julian started to fight against the bounds on his hands, "Get away from him! Stop it! Take me! Take me again and leave him alone!"

"Julian, SHUT UP!” Logan roared even though it burned as the tremors of his yell shook against the needle, "Just be quiet!” sepia eyes glared right back at him while the green liquid vanished under his skin and the unnamed man pulled his hand back again, chuckling as he walked around Logan to give a swift kick at Danny’s side. But the blond's words still had their hoped impact, because Julian stilled and leaned back against the chair. "It's okay."

Nobody saw the small knife cutting through the rope binding Julian to his chair as both Stuarts were lost in each other again, and Danny played dead. The door fell tightly shut again and the lock turned three times, while Julian searched Logan's face for any sign of discomfort or pain, a feeling the other boy didn't show to him while he kept on staring at sepia eyes, while the fire burned its way down his veins.

And it wasn't until a sudden twitch went through Logan's arms that Julian did react, instinctively leaning forward to come closer, only to suddenly almost fall from the chair as his hands slipped out of the rope and he had to catch himself against Logan's thigh to prevent himself from faceplanting into his king's crotch.

Straightening himself up again, he shot a quick apologizing look to Logan who glared back at him and wrenched his chin towards the door, “You check, I talk! Now!”

\---

Five weeks ago

\---

It was Jason who brought him the message from Bailey in the middle of the night and then immediately disappeared again, but the cloud of heavy silence he had brought with himself into Logan's room remained. A message intercepted from a phone call to Windsor, the Lord Commander had spoken.

And when Logan finally looked down at the three words after Jason's steps had long stopped echoing in the corridor, his heart did not only stop, it shattered into dust. And time stood still.

You killed him.

It echoed in his head like a thunder, filled every part of him until he started choking, fingers clutching at his neck, trying to peel off the suffocating weight on his shoulders that wasn't even really there. And his eyes couldn't stop reading over the cold words.

Your fault. It's your fault.

He is dead because of you.

For a moment his vision swam before him, letting him escape from the cruel truth of the message in his hands, written in Bailey's neat handwriting, but then his eyes zeroed in on them again, and for the millionth time in the last five minutes his brain tried to understand.

But just as quickly he could feel the fire filling his bones, his veins, his blood, could feel his heart hammering against his chest, mocking the words inside his head even more. He lived, he was alive, his heart showing his strength with every beat, but the other boy would never draw a single breath again, his heart would never beat again, would never stutter under his hands again.

He is dead.

You killed him without even raising a hand.

You killed Julian.

The scream pulled itself from his lungs no matter how hard he had tried to keep it inside, he was a king, he had no weakness, he was strong, he could never fall. He was a wall of ice, so why was his facade breaking apart like a house of cards in a summer storm. He didn't feel, he couldn't let himself feel something for someone who had been lost to him before they had taken him.

The paper crumpled in his fingers as he balled his hands into fists, fingernails digging into his palms so hard they drew blood, but he relished in the pain, drank from it eagerly to try and numb the agony inside of him. He lost the person who had always been closest to him, he had lost the only person he had ever dared to let in.

And when the whole truth crashed over him, there was no holding back anymore, and the chair flew against the closet with a strength that had it break apart upon impact, the bottles on his desk were next, then came the books and the lamp. And he was successfully caged into the blissful numbness of his anger by the time the chess board crashed through the window, covering the carpet in a sea of shards, and he let himself be filled by the destruction, by the chaos and let it fill his head and his heart.

He let it consume him until there was nothing left inside of him anymore, no more thoughts about lost friends, no more pain over missed chances, and the best thing, the thing that really spurned him on to stride over to the table in the middle of his room, now no one would be able to stop him anymore. No one around who would be able to get into his head. No more. Never again.

With two quick pushing gestures of his hands he had everything wiped off the map but one figurine, and the black music note standing on the edge of Windsor's territory was exactly what he needed in that moment. It was high time they would feel what it meant to push him over the edge, if they wanted to play with fire, they could have it, raining over them like lava.

He found the dagger in the box under his bed, in the locked up chest he had gotten from a prince long lost to their reach, another one he hadn't been able to save, and the silver gleamed in the moonlight as he strapped it to his belt, and while the red in his vision only intensified and the vibrating fury in his heart buried every other emotion under a thick blanket of violence, he grinned into the mirror over his bed.

You killed him, so why bother with sparing another innocent one.

Blood would flow tonight.

He stalked out of the room with quick determined steps, the corridor was empty and abandoned almost, he knew no one was around to stop him, no one around to look at him with judging eyes. He was alone. Truly alone, like never before in his life.

It took him half an hour to reach the darkness of the thick forest at the triangle border spot, the small area where Windsor met them and Lancaster on a line of barely 17 feet. And his mind was empty, completely blank as he spotted the other boy leaning against a tree not even five feet from the tree he was still hiding behind, there had never been any hard feelings between them, not truly, not until Windsor's crown prince had vanished and everyone had blamed Logan for it, even half of his own boys.

The truth was that no one had been hurt more upon the prince's disappearance than Logan, because in a time before betrayal, war and cruel schemes had started to rule their everyday lives, he had even dared to let someone as close to his heart as it was possible, only to fall into the dark abyss not soon after. And Anderson had been the one to hate him the most ever since, hate him because of a boy they had both fallen for, a boy who had played them both, only that Anderson had never been brave enough to open his eyes for the truth behind the lies.

He stepped out without another moment of hesitation and with his glove covered hands he pulled the dagger from his belt without making a sound, Blaine still hadn't sensed his presence, probably too caught up again in his day dreams about Windsor's new pet. His heart had always been his downfall, and it wouldn't save him now either, as Logan crept up close to him from the right and then in the last minute threw a small rock behind the tree so that the boy with the crest of black music notes sewn onto his jacket would turn away from the tree.

Blaine moved and Logan pounced, as graceful as the black panther he would never see fight again. One strong arm wrapped itself around the smaller boy's chest, kept his hands from reaching for his gun, the other one placed over the boy's mouth to keep him from screaming for help that wasn't around anymore. Amos didn't have enough men to support Bancroft in his never ending search for Abbott and still also man up his border with enough posts.

Blaine struggled for a while, until he felt the tip of the blade that Logan still held in the hand of the arm holding him captive slip under his shirt, but it was gone again as quickly as it had appeared, because in the next second he was slammed face first against the tree trunk, a muscular body pinning him against the wood. With a quick hand slipped into the back of Anderson's pants, Stuart's king had taken the only weapon Windsor's Hand carried with himself, too reliant on his good skills with a gun, always too afraid to hurt someone he cared about with a knife.

A mistake that would finally cost him his life. No more tricks. No more miracles.

"Logan.” Blaine choked out as a pale hand with a golden ring planted itself against the tree right next to his face and a low voice chuckled into his ear as the king pressed his body even closer, bringing his shirt covered chest flush against the leather jacket on Anderson's back.

"Any last words?” his voice sneered, but he barely heard it over the rushing of his blood inside his ears, over the loud crescendo of his heart. He didn't hear the small voice in his head screaming at him to stop, he was too far gone, he didn't care anymore if this would start a war, if this would fall back upon on him.

They had taken Julian from him.

They had taken everything from him.

He didn't care about them anymore.

He didn't care about anything anymore.

All he wanted was for the world to hurt as much as he did.

He could feel it when Blaine gritted his teeth, and he grinned against the tender skin of the other boy's temple as he raised his right hand with the dagger again, "Nothing. Good. So listen to me, Josh was not yours for the taking, nor was he mine, so I didn't take him. He always played a game that was much more dangerous then what we are doing right now, and it was for his own good that he left. I had nothing to do with it.” the blade set itself against the dark haired boy's throat, and Blaine stilled, "I am not innocent, I am far from it, but Josh was never one of my sins. And you won't be either. Amos wants a wildfire, so he gets one. Goodbye, Blaine.” and with one quick strike of his hand Blaine drowned on his own blood and slumped to the ground as Logan stepped back.

Dead.

Green eyes looked from unseeing brown ones to the splatter of blood on the tree trunk and the surrounding bushes. Logan's own pristine white shirt was still completely clean, not a single drop of blood on him, save for the scarlet blade at the end of the dagger he was still holding. His lips curling into a smirk again, he crouched down next to the lifeless boy and with a quick jerk of his wrist planted the dagger into Blaine's chest.

The moonlight cut onto the handle and let the golden pentagram on onyx stone glow in the pale light of the night.

"Let's see how your little hunter gets out of this one.” he whispered to his former rival over a prince's affection, before he got back to his feet and walked away, a satisfied grin falling over his face.

Try and stop me, you haven't even seen the worst of me.

He made it to the furthest point of Stuart's territory without being seen, without letting his thoughts stray from their path of violence for a second, he was focused, kept the pain from eating him alive. Until he set eyes onto his meadow, and it all crashed over him with a power that brought him to his knees, and his tortured screams filled the night with life again.

The despair filled his veins and flooded his head, let him dug his fingernails into the wet earth, let him push himself over to the closest tree with the faded red target circles, and then his fists went flying. And the skin on his knuckles broke more and more with every punch against the tree trunk.

Without him knowing, from a distance, hidden behind the trees, hazel eyes watched over him. Listened to his screams and his cries. Winced with every punch. But even though he would stay silent and leave him be, leave him to his pain and his anger, deep inside, he knew he had been right all along.

It had never been just a friendship. It had never been just a stress relief. If only it hadn't been too late, if only they hadn't been too late. If only Logan's plan hadn't failed and forced Derek to lie.

Lie about Julian dying.

\---

Wednesday, 17th October, 6:45 am

\---

“It’s locked. Too thick, solid steel, I doubt anyone could scream loud enough to be heard through this.” Julian breathed out as he slumped back against the door that could have left to their freedom, dragging a hand down his face, he took a deep breath before he walked over to Danny first.

Crouching down, he hurried to untie the bonds that kept the Hanover’s hands tightly strapped behind his back, and Danny sighed in relief when he was finally able to move freely again, nodding in thanks to Julian, he sat up and leaned against the wall in the corner across from the chair Logan was still sitting in.

Julian patted his shoulder once and then got back to his feet to walk behind Logan’s chair, reaching down he untied the ropes there as well, but stopped short as his eyes fell upon the blackened veins on the side of Logan’s neck, where the needle had pierced the skin. They ran down his neck in an alarming spider web construction before they vanished in his shirt, and it didn’t take a medical genius to suspect that they would continue even further down.

“Lo, what did they give you?” Logan cleared his throat twice and pulled his hands into his lap as Julian’s fingers finally freed them out of their restraints.

“It was nothing.” came the quick reply that Julian had already counted on, throwing a quick look over to Danny who had closed his eyes again, still way too exhausted and weak to really stay aware and focused long, and then he took a step to the right and reached for Logan’s face, turning him to face him while the blond was still wringing his hands to get feeling in them back.

“Don’t play games with me, not right now!” he sneered at him, he was way too tired and emotionally drained to keep the walls up any longer, shocked green eyes looked back at him after his unusual demanding tone, “What was in that syringe, Logan? I can tell that you know!” finally trusting his hands again to act upon his will, Logan reached up and pushed Julian’s hands away, pulling him to sit down again instead, he was the one looking pale after all.

He wanted to ask, he needed to know what they had done with him. How long had they hurt him? What had they done? Had they tortured him to get information? What had the Dragonprince meant with “this one can’t stop talking about you”? What had Julian told them?

But he couldn’t, he couldn’t ask, he couldn’t show Julian how he felt, not in front of Danny, not in this place, not while he was not ready. Not when he didn’t know if he would be able to make it out alive. He couldn’t ask because he didn’t know if he was ready for the answers.

“It’s a truth serum. Supposed to confuse people enough that they won’t be able to make up lies.” he explained instead, closing his eyes for a moment when the now familiar feeling of heavy pressure at the back of his skull set in. Julian frowned and Logan knew he could sense his unease, he should have seen it sooner, should have realized sooner what those signs had meant, now it was as good as too late.

But better you than him. You are ready to die.

Ready to die for him.

“Can I do anything?” Spoken in only a whisper to try and keep Danny as far away from their conversation as possible Julian leaned forward, no matter how much time he had spent with only Hanover’s prince as company, no matter how many times they had needed to help each other out in the last weeks, he was still their enemies’ greatest treasure, they couldn’t risk to give him more to play out against them once this was all over.

“Just…” and Logan snapped his eyes shut for a moment as his vision whitened and he only got aware of his hands shaking again when Julian reached for them and squeezed twice. It was different, it shot through his head then, maybe another dosage, he hadn’t felt like this when they had taken him. This was stronger, he could actually feel it working through his body, could feel it edging closer to his heart.

Trying to work his tongue around the knot in his mouth, he kept his eyes closed when the nausea threatened to make him dizzy, “Just…let me talk.” he frowned unseeing as his voice came out slurred, and a small huff from the boy sitting in front of him showed him that the worry inside Julian was spiking.

“Okay.” it was obvious that Julian was willing himself to keep panic from showing, he always got that little tremor inside his voice that barely anyone aside from Logan and Derek could detect, but Logan hadn’t heard it since they had found Derek laying in his own blood the day after Casey had died.

“Alright… I need to tell you what happened after we got back to Stuart.” his voice got deeper and the slur got more prominent, but Julian kept from showing any sign of noticing it, while in the corner, Danny had fallen asleep.

\---

Three weeks ago

\---

They often say times passes tormentingly slow when you lose a loved one, that you had to experience every second without them twice, but for Stuart's boys it went quite the other way. Time started to run, and soon enough with the pain still fresh on their minds even though weeks had passed October came around.

Logan was aware that his brother was harboring some very repressed anger towards his decision in the warehouse, but that his grief and his stubbornness kept him from acting on it, he could only hope that the time would come when Austin felt himself ready to talk about it. He also felt bad that Derek and Marcus hadn't been able to get the mourning time they deserved, but they were still balancing on war's edge, their captain was missing and their king was more unstable than ever, they didn't have time to sit in the dark for long, time went on and so did their jobs.

And with their jobs came the most difficult decision Logan and Derek had to make since that fateful day in Stuart's history when leadership got changed in the darkness of the night. And they fought over it for days, the situation got so intense that Cyrus and Marcus had to forcefully pull them apart and lock them in different rooms for two hours until both of them were calm enough again to stop trying to kill each other.

It would also turn out to be the one decision they would both regret for the rest of their lives.

But back then, standing in the scorching sunshine in the dust of the meadow outside of town, whether Logan nor Derek knew about that yet, their thoughts were occupied with the hard task of saying goodbye to their princess. Logan had won the argument in the end, and Derek had begrudgingly agreed that they couldn't protect his sister anymore.

With Julian dead. With the traders catching onto the tension between Dalton's kingdoms and using their state of distraction to wreak havoc upon the town again. With the Queen of Roses leaving roses of changing color upon Logan's window ledge on the third story, even though they had positioned four guards in positions with perfect view after the second one.

And most importantly with their ally still in distress over their dead captain, they needed all concentration on Windsor, and after losing the girls the very last thing their hearts would be able to take was losing their little sunshine. Derek was absentminded whenever he wasn't preoccupied with some task these days, and Amanda had easily caught onto his dark thoughts, she had only grown more silent and withdrawn with every passing day, even Cyrus hadn't been able to break her out of it.

They hadn't been able to find the girls’ or Ace's bodies when they had went back to the burned down warehouse, and just like with Julian, they were left with a disturbing puzzle and the question of what had been done with their bodies. Logan knew that it was not only killing Derek, Marcus and Austin, but also that Riley was only able to sleep when he was doped high on sleeping pills. It was not the best situation for a nine year old to be around, not when Windsor could strike any minute.

The only comfort they had now was knowing that Amanda wouldn't go alone.

"Cyrus!” turning around upon hearing his king's voice, Cyrus pushed the bag higher upon his shoulder again and walked over to Logan as the taller boy waved him over. Their eyes remained on the whispering siblings as Cyrus came to stand next to Logan.

"Logan.” the second highest Kingsguard member greeted his king with a quick nod of his head, Logan rolled his eyes, but kept his green orbs focused on Derek kneeling in the dirt, Marcus standing by his side, gun drawn, eyes securing the old meadow.

His best friend was keeping it together quite better than Logan had expected, one hand still stroking over his sniffling sister's cheek, both siblings were whispering with each other. Promises probably.  
"You keep her safe. No matter what you hear or see, she is the only thing that will matter to you.” he repeated the clear order again and Cyrus nodded.

"I will gladly give my life for her. I will protect her, Logan.” Cyrus answered the unspoken question of have you really understood me, his voice was strong, unwavering and convinced, and Logan knew that he meant it, that he would rather lose limb for limb than ever see Amanda with a scratch on her skin.

Not far from them, Derek got back to his feet and picked Amanda up, who quickly reached out a hand so Marcus could kiss the back of it.

"I'll see you again, my princess.” but instead of a high giggle, it only triggered a small smile on her angelic face, it was already overdue to get her out of this war zone. Marcus kept his position as Derek walked over to them where they had been standing at the bottom of the stairs leading into the small plane.

A small private plane Bailey had organized for them under the utmost secrecy.

They had said enough goodbyes already, Amanda only reached out a hand to touch Logan's again, and they smiled at each other before Derek gave his sister over to Cyrus.

"Wait for our letter.” was the only thing the brunet had left to say, Cyrus nodded and then they watched how he stepped into the plane, Amanda looking back over his shoulder to smile at them, the last thing they saw of both of them as the door of the plane closed.

Logan and Derek stepped further back and as they watched the plane start down the improvised runway and then ascend into the clouds, the brunet's hands turned into fists at his side, but it was his king who spoke first.

"I didn't want this.” his voice was calm, but also filled with sadness, the little girl had been the only one able to bring a smile upon his face in the last weeks, with her the last rays of sunshine had left Stuart entirely.

"I know."

"If I knew any other way of keeping her safe here, I wouldn't have send her away.” green eyes turned to look at Derek's hardened face, the way he locked his jaw and gritted his teeth.

"I know.” came the answer again, and Logan reached up to clamp a hand upon Derek's shoulder.  
"You'll get her back once this is over.” but no matter how sure Logan sounded in his promise, Derek would not be able to shake the bad feeling he had as he watched the small private plane disappear behind the clouds.

That evening, as they returned to Stuart, Bailey intercepted them with nervous hands at the bottom of the staircase in the entrance hall, and Derek was so tired by then that he just snapped at their silent news handler to spit it out. Marcus had moved in to place both hands upon Derek's arms, they had both turned more open about each other after Franzi's death, and they dealt with it in their own silent way.

Bailey had bitten his lips for a moment before turning to look at Logan, who had glared at him, exhausted himself, and then it left his lips.

“Austin snuck out an hour ago.” Bailey rushed through his words and Logan threw his hands into the air and groaned, biting his tongue to keep the exasperated scream from slipping out. Austin was testing him, testing his patience and his nerves, he blamed him for Julie's death but still loved the brother in him too much to act on his fury, so he did it in the only way he knew would piss of Logan even more.

He threw himself into danger.

Slipped out in the dead of the night. Never telling anyone about it.

Logan had no idea what Austin was looking for, he had caught him sneaking back into the house at five in the morning one day, carrying a bag full of books and stuffed animals, a black sweater with a black and white striped hoodie with cat ears slung over his arm. A hoodie Logan remembered seeing on a terrified and shaking girl in an abandoned cafe in town after he and Derek had chased the traders away, alerted by Franzi's call for support. He was trying to cope.

“Do you have any idea where he could have gone?” Derek breathed out, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Marcus went and restocked his ammunition at the sideboard in the corner, already preparing to go out again.

“No, I don't. Nick came running to me, he went out with Lawrence to check out the lake house.” the smaller boy explained, looking as if he hadn't slept in days again. Logan reminded himself to give him a break.

“He won't be there.” he added though, dragging a hand over his face, “He knows we will look for him there.” he caught Derek's eyes from four feet away and shrugged his shoulders, he had tried talking to him multiple times, but his hands were bound, he hadn't found a way to cope with Julian's loss either, why would Austin be any different. They both liked to ignore the pain rather than work through it.

Derek was about to comment again when the front door flew open and Austin stumbled inside, completely out of breath and gasping for air he crashed into Logan, who caught him with raised eyebrows while Marcus already whirled around with a gun drawn towards the entrance. Austin pushed himself straight again with his help, and stared up at him out of wide and exhilarated blue eyes, heaving two deep breaths before the words tumbled out of his mouth and sent their whole world flying into chaos again.

“Julian is alive!”

Marcus dropped the spare ammunition and whipped his head around to stare at their prince, whose blue eyes were solely fixed upon his older brother's quickly whitening face, letting go of Austin as if he was a burning flame, Logan stumbled back and only caught himself on the banister when he stumbled over the bottom step of the staircase. Derek choked on his words as he slowly made a step closer to Austin.

“How can you...” the younger boy interrupted him before he had even formulated the question in his head, turning around Austin almost barreled into him as well in his excitement.

“I ran into the hunters in town...or at least what's left of them.” Austin began to explain and Derek snapped for air, seizing the prince up by grabbing onto his wrists.

“You did what? And where?” the brunet demanded to know and whereas Austin would have cowered before and meekly stuttered an answer, the shooting had changed him and he braced his shoulders and raised his chin, looking as proud and invincible as his brother usually did.

When he wasn't hyperventilating on the stairs.

Marcus dragged a hand over his face as he went to close the front door again before kneeling down to collect the bullets, Bailey had tried to blend into the shadows again, always content to stay in the background. No one really paid more than a short glance to their king sitting on the stairs, face dropped into his hands in an attempt to get his heart and breathing to slow down.

Could it be? Could it really be true? Could he really be alive after all?

Ignoring Derek's outraged questions, Austin continued, “I caught them sneaking through the old church again. They played cocky and snarky until I showed myself, they went very quiet then. No one out there is suspecting me to be alone, ever, they always think Logan is just around the corner. That's why I am safe on my own.” Derek waved his explanations away, his message was more important, “They may be assholes, but they still are hanging onto their lives and they can talk quite a bit when being prompted to. Julian is alive.”

“Aus, you have to be 200% sure that...” but Austin growled at Marcus and turned away from Derek again, seeing their doubt, he walked back over to his brother again where Logan was still hunched over on the stairs.

“They saw him. Everyone out there knows who Julian is, he has a reputation. Julian and you, they would all rather die than fall into your hands.” slowly, Logan looked up again, green eyes were filling with a dangerous glint, “They have no reason to lie to me. I could see it in their eyes, they are speaking the truth. They saw how hooded men brought Julian from a truck into two separate cars by the train station. The Russian guy said they drove off towards the old steel factory outside of town. Logan, we have to get him back!” green eyes met blue one, and the clear hope in them almost wrenched Logan's heart out of his chest again and the voice inside his head started yelling.

Get him back, Logan. Get him back and kill this madman. Get him back and together, you can win this war, and end this bloodshed once and for all. Get him back.

But...what if this is all just another game...what if you get to him only to find him dead...You can't go through this a second time.

“Logan!” raising his voice another notch, Austin pulled up even more courage, reached down and wrenched his brother to his feet again, “Remember the rules, brother!” he was almost yelling by then, “Remember what Dad always told us!” Derek and Marcus winced upon the younger brother casually mentioning the previous Wright generation, the taboo topic in the house, but Logan only straightened up more, “No one is...”

“No one is dead until there is a body to prove it.” Logan fell into his words and Austin nodded, “Rule Number Four.” and from across the room the blond king caught hazel eyes, and for a long moment they only looked at each other. They didn't need to talk, they knew each other good enough to know exactly what the other one was thinking. They may have been still on edge with each other, Derek still believing that Logan had been too cold over Julian's loss while Logan hadn't made a secret out of his thoughts over Derek's too emotional handling of Franzi's death. But with certain aspects their hearts would always beat as one.

Stuart would not lose this coming war.

And with Julian, one ace would be back in their cards.

The decision wasn't hard to make, a Stuart boy was in danger, they had to do something about it, and they had to bring him back home. That it was their captain only made it even more important. Stuart and Lancaster, both without their Kingsguard's captains was a weakness. One of them without his captain was a flaw they could work with.

Derek nodded once as the plan unwrapped itself in front of their eyes and Logan nodded back at him, without his Hand knowing that the king had his own special plan to come to fruition to bring this whole game finally to an end.

“Bailey, alarm the boys. I want everyone armed and ready to go in fifteen minutes.” Logan called into the entrance hall without taking his eyes off of Derek, “Marcus, get the blue prints of the factory, we have a plan to make in the car.” the brunet nodded and ran off, “Austin, get Kate out of Julian's room. You're coming with us. We have a captain to get home and a ghost to kill.”

Austin nodded and went to run up the stairs but Logan grabbed his arm as he wanted to pass him and held him back, “What happened to the traders?” he wanted to know and blue eyes hardened.

“I killed Andreij, the other one bolted.” Logan waved him away.

\---

At approximately the same time in Windsor house, things had shifted into a heavy tension after the death of their Hand, without Blaine around, there wasn't much need to have his little pet among them anymore either, and spurned on by the need to assure himself of the loyalty of his own boy in the midst of Stuart rising to new found power in the middle of a war against unknown assassins, Charlie ordered the only boy he knew to handle the job without a moment of hesitation to kill the new kid.

Marius waited until both twins had taken up their patrol spots outside their house before he crept up to the second story where the Lima kid had shared a room with their strawberry haired little genius, who was still not out of critical condition, but without a trustworthy hospital around they could only hope. He opened the door to the dark room, where Kurt had been silent and withdrawn since they had found Blaine. He had barely left the room and Charlie had been right in calling him a rock attached to their legs.

They were waiting for war, they couldn't use boys who could not fight, so he had been tasked with getting rid of him, something that filled him with immense pleasure, the boy with the angelic voice had always been a thorn in his eye, an outsider, something they didn't need when there were already people among them working against their king.

As expected he found the boy sobbing pathetically into his pillows again, and he rolled his eyes when he silently closed the door behind himself and picked up a spare pillow from the second bed in the room on his way over to the bed standing under the windows.

He pulled up his knee to nudge Kurt's thigh, the other boy turned around and it didn't take much of his reflexes to push the pillow upon the boy's surprised face, he raised his other hand, pushed the gun into the pillow and pulled the trigger. And the relief flooded his blood, one more problem down, everything to keep Charlie from more paranoia.

\---

It could have been great and epic, and the rescue mission of the century.

If Logan's first shot had hit the guard at the entrance gate of the factory's grounds instead of the hidden grenade by the man's head.

The following explosion did not only throw their king and Derek back against their car, it also alerted the people on the inside of the old buildings about their presence, and instead of a sneaky corridor fight with a surprise element on their hands, they got a full blown parking lot massacre.

It wasn’t only the Night's Watch men – they soon became aware of expensively died pale blond hair and silver extensions under the hoods of men and women who were working for the assassin they feared more than anyone else.

The Dragonprince.

The one who had taken Julian.

The one who played with fire and flames as if he was born admits the deepest pits of hell itself.

And Logan saw a chance for himself, an opening that no one around him would understand, an opening that would for a short while throw Stuart into even deeper trouble and misery, but for him personally, it would lead him finally to the one demon he had chasing after for months.

His secret plan. The one he couldn't tell anyone about. Because they would all keep him back.

The only way to make sure Julian was live, the only way to make sure he still had something to lose, more than just himself.

Derek and Marcus had been fighting back to back with the bullets raining down around them, but one hazel eye had always been drawn towards the two blond heads whirling around to shoot down another wave of hooded men coming their way. They were horribly outnumbered, and though no one had been hurt just yet, it was only a matter of time until that would change.

A grenade exploded not far from him then and he had to push Marcus to the ground to avoid the debris flying their way, and in that split second of them being distracted, it happened. First, Austin screamed, and then it turned deadly silent.

When Derek and Marcus had scrambled back to their feet, they quickly saw why. On the other side of the parking lot, the tall silver haired Dragonprince had one arm pushed around Logan's chest and the other one holding a knife to his throat while a whole army of equally pale haired soldiers surrounded them, cutting their king off from them.

At the far outer line of Stuart boys, Lawrence and Nick were desperately trying to hold Austin back from running towards his brother, and Derek felt frozen to the ground.

“Go!” Logan screamed and green eyes caught hazel ones, “Go home, Derek! It's over! Take Austin and go home!” he didn't look scared, Derek noted then, even as one of the men approached the Dragonprince and produced a syringe from his pockets, not wasting time he injected it into Logan's neck, the blond king winced.

Austin screamed even louder.

And then it was just over. They had just fallen into their trap and had lost the only one that was important to their cause. They had lost Logan.

\---

Wednesday, 17th October, 7 am

\---

"So what now?” Julian demanded as he knelt down next to Logan whose green eyes tried to focus on his face, tried to find an anchor in this drowning ocean inside his head, Julian reached for one of his hands and it brought Logan back enough to twist his tongue around the words inside his mind.

"We have a plan.” Logan slurred, eyes falling shut again until Julian gently slapped his cheek.

"Hey, stay with me. What kind of plan?” he wanted to know, only half interested in the actual plan, he was more focused on keeping Logan talking, because only hearing his voice would be enough to keep Julian from slipping into the panic bubble that was creeping closer from the back of his mind. Logan's shoulders dropped and his head just fell forward, taking his upper body with it as the gravity got too strong for his muscles.

Julian caught him before he could really fall, groaning upon the weight on his own tired arms, but somehow he managed to gently pull Logan down from the chair, laying him down on the cold ground. Green eyes heavily blinked up at him as Julian sat down cross legged and cushioned Logan's head on his lap, the blond boy smacked his lips against each other for a moment until his tongue formed the words he wanted to say.

"The good ones. He'll die, and we'll win.” his voice blurred the words even more together and Julian frowned again, pressing one hand upon Logan's forehead and grimacing upon the heat, he knew how truth serum was supposed to work, none of those symptoms included any of what Logan was experiencing just now.

"Logan?” green eyes stared up at the ceiling, right by his face, pupils blown wide, and only his chest rising and falling showed that he was indeed still alive, but the pulse Julian felt on his king's wrist was far too weak.

"It's all in the plan.” pale lips whispered and Julian had to lean down to hear him, but then he raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but let the sarcasm taint his words.

"Getting captured? Tripping high on whatever they gave you? Your plan sucks, Lo.” he was so far from being in the mood for joking but it seemed his tongue couldn't even listen to him now, Logan let out a sound that could have almost been a chuckle.

"All in the plan. Derek and... Riley... save... you.” he slurred and stuttered, and suddenly coughed, shaking Danny awake again in his corner, green eyes blinked open in alarm when he saw them on the ground, Julian stayed focused on Logan as his words sank in.

"Riley?! Why is Paige in on this?” Six weeks, Larson, you were gone for six weeks, who knows what happened with Windsor, stroking a calming hand over Logan's forehead without really noticing, Julian stared off into space for a moment, and when Logan spoke again, inserting double the amount of l's into a single word.

"Allied.” and Julian stared, in his corner Danny gasped, but neither Stuart paid him any mind, it wasn't like that secret hadn't reached their enemies by then anyway, and then without him really knowing why, it just bubbled from Julian with no restraints, and he laughed as he looked down at Logan's slowly closing eyes.

"You allied us with Lancaster? Jesus Christ, Logan, I never knew you cared about my sorry ass this much.” Julian quipped and snorted in the end, but he couldn't know that Logan barely heard him anymore in the heavy fog that had fallen over him, and for the very first time then in over two years, Logan spoke without thought. He spoke without thinking about the consequences, because the truth serum had reached his head and had incapacitated him of making excuses or lies.

"But I love you.” it was only a quiet broken whisper anymore, and Julian didn't even have enough time to really process his words before Logan suddenly went limb in his hands and lost consciousness.

\---

To be continued in Act II: The Ghost, Part II: Alive or Dead, I don't care!


	6. Chapter 5

Act II: THE GHOST

Part II: ALIVE OR DEAD, I DON'T CARE!

Previously on "A Game of Kings"

“Go!” Logan screamed and green eyes caught hazel ones, “Go home, Derek! It's over! Take Austin and go home!”

"But I love you.” it was only a quiet, broken whisper any more, and Julian didn't even have enough time to really process his words before Logan suddenly went limp in his hands and lost consciousness.

\---

Wednesday, 17th October, 8 am

\---

"Shit." Stomping his foot against the iron door again, Julian dragged his hand down his face again from where it had previously rested in his – by then completely wild – hair, throwing a quick look back to Logan's still unconscious form on the ground, Danny kneeling next to him. He groaned and let his forehead fall against the door. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit."

"I don't think that will help us, or him for that matter, right now. Get it together, Julian.” Whirling around at Danny's dry and casual tone, Julian almost threw himself at the younger boy, but refrained from doing so when he caught sight of the honest worry in still unfamiliar green eyes.

"Now is also not the time for bad and misplaced sarcasm.” Danny threw his hands up and crawled back into his corner, still not trusting his legs to carry him. He still wore the dark gloves over his hands, and Julian was grateful for it. Dragging both hands over his face again, Julian hid a quiet whine in his palm and then moved to crouch down next to Logan again.

But I love you. But I love you. But I love you. But I love you. But I love you. But I love you.

He dropped to his knees and laid his head down on Logan's chest, listening to the steady heartbeat of his king, of the boy who, with only a couple of words, had thrown his entire life out of line, and now Julian had no idea on how to go on. The simple truth was that he had given up, somewhere between being starved and beaten every single day, he had stopped believing that he would ever see Logan again in his third week of captivity.

And now he was back, bringing with him hope, hope for freedom, and the pain of knowing how much it hurt to not have it. Freedom. Julian tried to remember how it felt, the wind in his hair, the sun on his skin, but after six weeks, he came up blank. And he had to think back to a conversation in a cold dungeon room some months back.

"Because I can't... I can't tell you the truth because I'm not ready. Because you are not ready, and the world sure isn't ready... and I just can't. Not now, not here. You just have to trust me that it won't happen again." It wasn't begging, he knew he didn't need to, but he still kept his eyes focused on Logan's, let him see that you are not lying, let him see that you just cannot tell him the true reasons, because you know you are right, he is not ready for it. He will never be ready for it.

He could have changed their world, he almost felt sick now, when he realized how much he could have had, if only he had had the courage to say it back then. And now, now that he knew the truth, now that he finally knew that he wouldn't destroy everything between them, they were prisoners of a faceless psychopath who liked to play with them like a toddler with wooden bricks.

Closing his eyes again, he kept his face hidden in Logan's shirt, fighting against the tears threatening to overwhelm him again. He was strong, and he was stubborn and arrogant. A cold hearted bitch, but in these last six weeks Julian had cried more than in his entire life before them. Waiting. Always waiting.

He didn't know that in the safety and danger of his own mind, Logan was fighting his own battles. 

\---

The hall around them was almost golden, the fire burning so bright on the walls and pillars. His lungs burned with the heavy smoke in the air around them, but he still kept on running, there was no other choice but to keep running even when his eyes started to tear up.

His right hand was tightly clasped around the smaller one of the boy with the oak brown hair, and both their hands hurt with the pain of their strained muscles, just as much as their legs did, but they still ran on as the explosions took apart the building behind them.

Running. Running. Always running.

Julian stumbled when the smoky air in his lungs choked him and had him gasping for breaths, Logan quickly turned around and caught him in his arms before the other boy could hit the dirty and gasoline coated ground. He gave them a brief moment to calm their racing hearts, but when another explosion resulted in a cave in of the corridor they had just fled from, Logan pushed an arm under Julian's shoulders and pulled him along again.

On and on, up the stairs and down the stairs they went until they had reached the smaller entrance hall of the old factory, even here everything was on fire and Logan swore when his eyes caught sight of the flames already reaching out for the beams on the ceiling.

They needed to get out and fast at that, or it would all be over for real, and his heart almost jumped out of his chest in relief when he caught sight of the broken open doorway that would lead them out. Freedom. Fresh air. So close.

Julian was crying out in pain by the time Logan almost carried him up the stairs and then let go of him in front of the door, there was no way they would fit through it together, and he would rather die than not see Julian walk through that door first.

"Go!” he yelled as sepia eyes looked back at him, and Julian heavily shook his head, holding himself up against the pillar that stood right next the door.

"Not without you!” Julian croaked back at him and curled one arm around his chest when the smoke in his lungs made it almost unbearable to breathe.

"I will be right behind you!” Logan promised and leaned over for a second when his own chest constricted with a hot, piercing pain, while behind them more explosions rocked the old building.

"Go, now!” With one last longing look, Julian pushed himself away from the pillar and turned his back towards him, taking all his remaining energy to run through the door. Logan hesitated one second too long, his weary mind wanting to the see the moment Julian stepped into freedom, relishing the fact that he had saved the sniper, before he followed him, but then a loud crash sounded right above his head.

He couldn't even set one foot forward before the yellow, burning beam fell upon him and he went down in searing pain, and with the thought that he had at least fulfilled one mission. Julian was safe. The boy he loved was safe. His heart was safe. And then there was darkness.

\---

Logan woke up with a loud gasping breath, still lying on the ground in the dark little room where he had lost consciousness one and a half hours ago, and green eyes flew open upon the realization that it had all been a dream. Just a dream. He was still alive.

Someone hurriedly sat back up by his side and when he turned his head to the side, he caught sepia eyes with green ones and everything faded out of focus.

He didn't care in that moment, not about this horrid place in which they were held captive, or about the boy sitting in the corner with his face dropped into his hands, or about the people who could have been watching them. All he cared about in that single moment was that Julian was still alive and okay and right there with him, as he reached up with one hand to curl it around Julian's jaw, and used the other one to push himself up from the ground.

He crashed their lips together with a broken cry, the hunger inside of him flaring up until it filled his every cell and nerve, until everything inside of him screamed as he finally got what he had thought forever lost.

A kiss.

Julian responded with almost enough eagerness that it pushed Logan to the ground again, taking Julian with him, hands holding onto his face while smaller ones grabbed onto his hair, grounding himself against him.

A true kiss, not one fuelled by passion and the presence of sex, just a simple kiss, but things were never simple with them. They pulled apart after a moment and cleared their throats awkwardly when they became aware of Danny staring at them with wide eyes. Well so much for possible ‘we'll talk about it later, let's keep it secret for now’ plans.

But Julian and Logan both knew that now wasn't the right time or place to talk about them, they could communicate it without words. Later. When they would be alone. Out of this hell. Back home.

Sitting up again, more properly this time, Logan dragged a hand down his face and then faced the speechless Hanover in the corner, and in a bad attempt at starting up a conversation that would lead them out of this horrid awkward silence, he asked "What's it with the gloves, Abbott?” resulting in Julian flinching to heavily that he reached out with a hand to comfort him on pure instinct and Danny dropping his eyes down upon his right hand.

"It was an accident.” Julian breathed out, as he shook himself free of Logan's hand and retreated to the corner on the other side of the room, across from Danny, and leaning his head back against the wall, the brunet closed his eyes. Logan followed him with worried eyes until he set them back on Danny, then clouded with confusion.

"It was more one of his perverse games. Just like his little trick with the truth serum and your secret, Wright.” he sounded bitter and angry, and Logan raised an eyebrow, he had never heard the younger boy speak like that, "He set a viper on us."

Silence.

"Or, really, one of his men did, it's not like we ever got to see him, the Ghost. It was a toxic one, I have enough general knowledge of these beasts to know as much. Julian tried to kill it, but it was too fast and it bit me.” he started pulling on the glove on his right hand and everything inside of Logan screamed at him to look away, but he only briefly glanced at Julian with his eyes tightly shut before curiosity forced him to stare back at Danny.

On first sight, everything looked fine. Pale skin, no marks, but then his mind started to count and only reached four, where it should have been five. But where Danny's right little finger was supposed to be, there was nothing but a stump. Only a still healing, slightly red, stump.

"Julian managed to kill it in the moment that it bitten my finger. And now I have to say I am lucky that it was only my finger and not my hand. They came back then, and took the dead snake, but left Julian with a steel knife.” Danny stopped then, but quickly pulled on the glove again, he seemed completely tired out again, and Logan wondered how much more time he would survive in this place.

Julian didn't have to say anything to explain what had happened after they had given him the knife, Logan knew him well enough to know that no matter how many difficulties they had had with Hanover, Julian would have never let Danny die beside him. Not as long as their house loyalty counted for nothing in a place where they had only had each other to hold onto, only each other to keep themselves sane.

Walking over to him and sitting down beside him, Logan pulled him against his shoulder, keeping a strong arm around him. "I am going to kill him.” he growled, glaring at the empty wall, "I will drain the life out of him. Watch him suffer for everything he had done.” Danny closed his eyes again and curled up on the floor, Julian reached up a hand and intertwined their fingers, squeezing.

"We don't know who he is, Logan. We don't even know where he is, he could be here, he could be in New York, or he could be in China. He could be everywhere. I want him dead as well. How do you want to make him pay when you don't even know where he is."

"Because I will find him. Because he will be kneeling on the ground with his face in the dirt before me. Alive or dead, I don't care."

\---

The two figures, hidden under thick blue coats rushed over the empty streets with quick strides, avoiding the deep puddles of rain water as the clouds kept on sending down more and more water. Dark eyes looked around the empty street between the skyscrapers before they ducked into the entrance of an old black brick building.

They closed the door and barricaded it with the old cupboard again, before moving towards the stairs and climbing up to the 17th story, and only when the door to the formerly luxurious apartment was locked behind them did both of them pull off their hoods. Brown hair fell down in curls up to the young woman's chin, and the young man's short brunet air was damp from the rain.

Both of them jumped as the quiet voice called out their names from the end of the small entrance corridor, and Ace was so close to drawing the gun he had taken out of a dead beggar's hand two weeks ago on Julie, who peeked around the corner from the living room.

"Stop doing that!” he snapped at her, making her cringe and quickly vanish behind the corner again, Franzi punched his shoulder before hanging up their stolen coats to dry.

"How many times do I have to tell you to go easy on her?” Ace snorted and ignored her, walking off to find to the second bedroom, the one with the windows overlooking downtown Manhattan, where the thin girl was humming to herself, sitting on a bunch of pillows, thick blanket wrapped around her shoulders. He left the gun on the desk by the mirror and stepped over to her. Kneeling down behind her, he looked over her shoulder upon the sketchbook Franzi had gotten her barely a week after they had been dumped on the streets.

Resting his stubble-covered cheek against her softer one, he barely contained the flinch upon realizing that her temperature was soaring up again, he would have to find new medicine soon, something more effective this time.

They needed to leave this city, they needed to leave soon and finally get home, but not while jeopardizing Ali's health again, the first time it had been close enough. He would not sit at her bedside for days, fearing for her life a second time within one month.

Leave Seattle. Reach Westerville. The plan sounded so easy.

Sitting down, Ace rested his legs on either side of his silent girlfriend, he pulled her back against his chest and drew the blanket around the two of them, keeping her warm, keeping her safe. Ali continued to draw, quietly humming, not showing any sign that she had even noticed his presence. He sighed and dropped his face sideways against the window, looking down at the rainy city, and with the rain crashing against the window, he could just for a moment pretend that it wasn't tears running down his face.

He wanted to go home. Back to his family, back to their families and friends, back to the people who would be able to save Ali, who would be able to get Julie and Ali the help and the medicine they needed. Turning his eyes up to look at the dark clouds, Ace whispered his silent prayer once more into the silence of their room, hoping not for first time that the pain and the sheer agony in his voice would get the smallest rise out of the apathic girl in his arms.

"Give me strength, Jake. Give me strength to get them home, give me strength to carry on.” Closing his eyes, he dropped his forehead against the glass. "I can't do this for much longer. I'm not you, I'm not strong. I'm not a leader, I'm just a soldier without his king. I need to go home, I need to bring them home. I swore to you that I would keep Ali safe and now look at how much I have failed.” a loud crash snapped him from his thoughts and had his eyes fall open again.

"Ace!” and when Franzi's frantic voice screamed his name in the next moment, he untangled himself from Ali, ran over to the dresser to pick up his gun and then hurried from the room. He could hear the high pitched screams of terror with only one foot back in the main corridor and when he stumbled into the living room, Franzi was kneeling on the ground not far from the door, cradling one side of her face in her hands, tears running down her face while brown eyes were focused on the fourteen year old girl lost in her horrors again.

Leaving the gun on the coffee table, he slowly raised his hands and edged closer to Julie, fallen to her knees, screaming like a banshee with her eyes pressed shut, just like the other several dozen times in the last weeks when the nightmares of their captivity caved in on her again. He felt even worse when he realized that his angry snapping could have triggered her to flash back to the dark rooms and the loud voices.

"Julie?” he softly called her name when he was close enough to reach out a gentle hand to touch her shoulder, feeling the success when she didn't flinch, he got down to his knees and carefully circled his arms around her, "It's gonna be okay.” he promised her, "I'm gonna get you home, back home to him.” pulling her towards him, her screams became muffled in his shirt when he turned to look at Franzi again, "I swear I will get you home."

\---

Two weeks later

\---

Wednesday, 1st November, 4 pm

And on the bed, Austin Wright continued to stare at the bright blue book in his hands, quietly humming to himself, completely unaware of anything around him.

"It's over, Marcus.” and ever so slowly Derek sank to his knees right in front of Marcus, open palms falling to the ground, "We're lost."

Marcus left the room with Nick and Thad not long after, with Derek still kneeling on the ground, but when both younger Kingsguards were already in the corridor, their temporary captain threw a look over his shoulder again and glared at Derek, who looked up at him and shrugged his shoulders in an apologetic gesture. He hated this as well, but it needed to be done. Marcus huffed and slammed the door shut, at the same time that Austin sighed and dragged both hands over his face, pushing the book away again before turning to face Derek, who was slowly getting to his feet again, dusting off his shirt.

"Does it hurt to lie to him?” their young king asked and Derek snorted, walking over to the table again and staring down at the map of Dalton, while blue eyes remained fixed on him.

"Not as much as leaving Logan behind.” he confessed and avoided his eyes when Austin let his eyes narrow into slits and glared at him, his typical reaction whenever the topic turned to Logan. They both knew that their little act about a king on the brink of apathy, a Hand too despaired to think straight, and a captain only knowing half the truth was a great weakness.

"It wasn't your fault. We had a plan.” Austin reminded him, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed and onto the ground, he started fingering the knife at his hip – it calmed him.

"I should still be with them.” Derek's voice was heavy with guilt and pain, and Austin would have felt more than just a split second of pity for him if he didn't know that half of this had happened because of him.

"Derek, none of us made a mistake.” At least on that day, the boy-king thought as blue eyes set themselves on the strands of blond hair that had come every second day since Logan's capture, Derek was watching them as well, "We were tricked, and someone told them about our plan. It wasn't your fault.” if he sounded bored about constantly repeating his words than Derek didn't show it, he didn't show anything but the tiredness of his bones, and his heart.

They had been tricked, someone had told on them, and no matter whose plan it was that failed now, they had still been ratted out from within, and he would find the traitor, would smoke him out of his dark little hole. They had come up with the plan not even half a day after coming back from the parking lot fiasco, it had been Derek who had proposed Austin should play broken and for him to fall apart not only on the inside, but also on the outside, so that their traitor might feel victorious and make a mistake that would give him away.

So far, it hadn't worked, the only thing it had perfected was that Marcus was now not only angry at Austin, but furious at Derek, having only been halfway integrated into their plan a week ago. He still didn't know that Austin was suspecting the traitor to be among the boys under his command.

"It was my plan. And it was me who failed.” Derek snapped Austin out of his thoughts again, and the fourteen year old boy almost rolled his eyes, but kept it back as the anger about Derek's self-inflicted guilt trip flared up again.

"Yeah, it was you who failed. But not with this plan.” Austin snorted and got to his feet, walking until he stopped at the other end of the table, facing off with the older boy, "You failed him when you blackmailed Bailey into constructing the false message about Julian being dead. You failed Logan when you took the last thing from him that kept him sane.” Derek flinched upon the accusation they had been arguing about for over a week already, ever since Derek had come clean to Austin about it at gunpoint. "And nothing, no explanation, and no fucked up reasons that you come up with for me, can make it okay. And I can only pray that my brother will never find out, because despite everything that’s happened between the three of you, despite everything that the three of you have been through in these last months… This is something he will never forgive you."

Derek couldn't look him in the eyes anymore when he was done, and Austin could see the guilt eating him up from the inside again, but he deserved it, because his stupid idea of triggering Logan's anger enough to finally take action against their enemy, it could have easily meant all of their deaths, and Austin knew that if he hadn't come across the traders that night, it wouldn't have been long and he would have lost his brother to the darkness forever.

"And now get out of here. Find Marcus and explain your overly dramatic acts to him.” Austin wrenched his hand to the door, "I don't want to see your face anymore. Not today.” and he watched as Derek closed his eyes briefly, but then he took his hands from the table and left Logan's room with slumped shoulders.

\---

Two days later Austin had escaped the tense atmosphere of Stuart House again, had threatened Lawrence and Nick with cutting off precious body parts until they had let him go alone, and then he had slipped into the woods behind Stuart House, intending to cool off before facing Derek one more time.

He had come to wonder how Logan did it, who his brother had managed to keep Derek's head upon his shoulders whenever he disagreed, because he seemed to disagree about everything nowadays, and nothing Austin did was good enough for him.

"I really don't understand any of this anymore. Why is this so complicated?” As he sat cross-legged at the end of the pier, looking out over the silent and calm lake, Austin thought back to the conversation with Derek and frowned, "Why did Logan chose to lie to Derek about his plan? Why keep him in the dark, Julie? Why did Derek lie to Logan? Why does anyone think lying gets you anywhere in this game?” As always in the last two weeks his question remained unanswered, not even the wind flared up around him, the lake remained quiet.

He had visited the lake house regularly in the two months since Julie's death, had found peace in the silence of the lake when the anger inside of him had threatened to break out again, but in all that time he had managed to keep it inside, because he couldn't let it win. He couldn't end up like his father and his brother, ruled and controlled by their anger almost every minute of their lives.

He needed to keep calm, because this time the anger felt so real, felt so powerful, this was no longer a small annoyance over stupid unfairness in patrols or over his brother's overbearing protectiveness, this was a rage he feared he would not be able to pocket any longer.

A rage he feared would only subside when he could feel blood running through his hands.

"They are lying to me.” he seethed through gritted teeth and his hands broke the branch he had taken from the forest, "At least with Logan, I can say that he is doing it to protect me, but it still doesn't make it any better. Two weeks, Jules. He has been gone for two weeks, and I still have no idea how to get him out of there, still have no idea if Julian is with him. For Logan's sanity I hope he is, I don't think he would survive losing him a second time.” Roughly dragging a hand down his face, he stared down into the lake again, "I wish you were here, not to give me advice, we both know you would have pushed me into the lake by now if I had asked you about strategies, but to keep me strong.” his face turned down into a frown as he broke another branch, "Because I can feel myself slipping, I can feel it crawling under my skin trying to break free, and I know you would have kept me calm, would have smiled at me to make me forget all about this war."

His hands shook as the last branch got broken into two tiny pieces of wood that he flung into the lake just like all the others before, and reluctantly he pulled out the knife with the black handle that he had found stuffed under his pillow the night they had returned from the rescue mission fiasco. With his brother gone and him a king. It had been the first clue that something was going on behind the scenes, and back then he had waited until Derek and Marcus had screamed themselves into sleep before he had snuck into his brother's unlocked room.

Nothing had looked out of the ordinary, the table with the map was still presenting their latest strategy for a Windsor attack, and Austin had blissfully ignored it, walking over to the desk by the window to take a look at the drawers.

Nothing to find there as well, but the more seconds of silence passed in the dimly lit room, he could feel the sensation strengthening that Logan had hidden something for him, something for him to find, the question was only if he had hidden it to be found when his plan failed or when he succeeded.

And that had been when it had hit him, when he had frozen in complete shock over his own thoughts and had then snapped his head up to stare at the black feather on the map, standing proud in front of the lines of his boys.

"Fuck you!” it had left his lips in a surprising rush of new energy, "Fucking hell!” he had exclaimed when the truth began to sink in, kicking against the chair, he swore, "Fucking hell, Logan, you wanted to be captured, didn't you? Just fuck you!"

And he had thought back to the look in his brother's eyes when they had taken him away, he hadn't looked scared, and now where he had saw it in a new light, he could almost see the relief over a neatly won plan in green eyes. And just as quickly then he had fallen to his knees in front of the bed and had reached his hands past the books under it, because then he had known what the knife had meant, he had heard his brother's voice in his head so clear in that moment of his hands searching around for the midnight blue box.

It's an onyx knife. Very rare. I took it from Dad the night before I got sent here, I wanted to piss him off one last time, but I also knew that if I ever needed to ask for his help again without anyone knowing about it, I would only need to send this back to him. That's how it had worked in our family for centuries.

"You know, a simple one minute talk of 'I have a plan, maybe check the box' would have also sufficed, blithering idiot.” he had angrily muttered in time with his right hand closing around the metal box, and he had pulled it out from under the bed, and had flung it open without another moment of hesitation.

He had been and still was the only one who even knew this box existed, because even his brother needed something to hold onto, even cold and strong Logan sometimes needed to remind himself where he had come from. And aside from many pictures, it was also filled with secrets, and Austin almost felt burned with shame over dropping in on his brother's privacy when his fingers pulled their sniper's red scarf out of the box, his mind too tired to think about the meaning behind it.

He had found the note pushed between an unknown bracelet with blue and golden beads attached to black leather and an old wrinkled family picture from a time where both boys had still believed their world to be perfect.

Give me two weeks. Wait for the sky to burn red. I have a plan, Austin, I know what I am doing.

"And now look at me.” Austin blinked back into the present and curled his shaking hands around the knife, hating how they calmed upon touching the cold stone, "Tomorrow two weeks have passed, and I still have no idea of where even to look. He might know what he is doing, but I don't.” he was only seconds away from flinging himself off the pier into the cold water, just to get his mind to calm down for one moment, "I have never needed my brother so much than I do now. Without him here, I won't be able to control myself much longer."

(if you want, you could start playing “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons now, because the following scene was greatly inspired by continuously listening to that amazing song)

The wood squeaking made him aware of the other presence on the pier and he calmly looked over his shoulder, spotting long dark hair almost instantly, and he relaxed again, there would never be any danger coming from her. Flipping the knife into his jacket again, he slipped a little bit to the side to offer the younger remaining Sand Snake a place next to him. Brie took it gratefully and gifted him with a small smile, but Austin couldn't give it back anymore, not when seeing her face reminded him of every single time she had helped Julie to sneak out of the house in the night to meet him in the woods.

"Laura says there is a thunderstorm approaching from the east, we should go soon.” he nodded but kept his eyes fixed upon the lake, he had overruled Derek's hesitation and had decided to take the two remaining girls of Franzi's little group under their protection, Laura and Brie would find safety in the small cottage that had belonged to the grounds’ caretakers before the bombs. Placed in the woods between Stuart's and Lancaster's border in the South, it would keep them out of harm's way.

"She wouldn't want you to punish yourself over this, Austin. This was not your fault.” he roughly slapped her hand away as Brie tried to comfort him, and for the first time after his patience had made him snap, he didn't feel the shame flooding his veins, didn't feel the regret colour his skin in tainted red. He knew Brie was right, but it was too late for comfort and sweet words, the shot had been made and Julie had died. And he had lost the only thing he had ever wanted for himself, had lost the only person he had ever let inside his heart and soul.

He had let her seen his deepest fears, had let his heart reach out to her, had held her hands in the darkness of the nights, had caught her shaking fingers when their lips had met in that magical moment of perfection. And then he had pulled the trigger and had killed her with a single bullet.

And as he turned his eyes to the shocked girl by his side to apologize after all, because he knew it wasn't her fault, she wasn't to blame for any of this, but the wind picked up a strand of her dark hair and his heart stopped as the single flower she had pinned into her hair caught his blue eyes.

She wasn't to blame, but he knew who was.

Jumping to his feet, he ignored Brie's surprised gasp and began to run up the pier again, the smaller girl hot on his heels, but he couldn't care, not about her, not now.

There was only one thing he felt now: the blinding white and scorching need to kill.

It was no longer crawling in his bones, it was biting its way through his skin, fighting its way to the surface and he soaked himself in the pain it caused, soaked himself in the destruction of his control as he stalked up the meadow, Brie running behind him, calling out his name, from the lake house, bags in hand, Laura emerged and stopped short upon the sight of them.

Austin raised blue eyes and had her take a step back right away, "Take Brie to the cottage, everything is prepared. Tell Danielle when you are there, she'll know what to do.” his voice had dropped into a husky growl, and he could feel it when the fire ignited itself in his heart, when its long and powerful fingers of flames reached out for his veins, filling every cell of his body with the invincible strength of pure adrenaline fired rage.

"But, what about you?” Brie had come back behind him, but clearly hesitated to touch him again, his muscles were to tense with anticipation and the energy he needed to keep himself under control, he didn't even know what he would have done if she had reached out for him again.

"Something came up. Don't wait long, a storm is coming."

He left the girls confused but nevertheless ready to go when he slipped back into the forest, but instead of going west again to reach Stuart House, he turned South, waited until the Lancaster patrol had passed and then left Dalton's grounds all together.

\---

Death Zone.

\---

For the very first time in two years he had been outside of Dalton territory all alone, no one around to keep him in check, no one around to keep a controlling hand upon him. All alone. His cold and emotionless face gives away to a furious sneer as he felt the broken streets under his feet.

And with every step he took, the flames reached for more flesh inside of him, and by the time he had reached the white three story house in the formerly gated community of Westerville, the ten foot high white gate still standing between him and the entryway, every muscle in his young body has tensed up, every single nerve was standing on alarm.

Every part of him was ready to bring pain, to destroy and kill. Every part of him knew he wouldn't fail. Because he had never been taught to fail, he had only ever learned how to win.

Every part of him, his soul, his heart, all of him had finally accepted what he was. Who he had been born to be. And as he opened his eyes again to stare at the red bike parked in front of the house, a quick flash of green crossed over his sky blue eyes.

All signs of former innocence and hesitation gone. No longer a prince. A king now. No longer a scared little boy hiding behind his brother's all protecting shadow. A killer now.

No longer just someone cowering behind people with powerful names. A Wright.

He was a Wright. And Wrights didn't fail, Wrights didn't get satisfied with second places. Wrights didn't show mercy and acted in pity.

He was a Wright. And Wrights killed to get what they wanted.

"And most importantly.” Austin seethed as he jumped upon the wrecked car next to the gate, reaching for the low tree branches to pull himself onto the oak tree, quick and graceful limbs jumping down into a low crouch behind the rose bushes on the left side behind the gate.

Hands drawing the gun, he slowly raised it to aim at the white head of the huge beast with the red eyes that had snapped up his head upon hearing branches break, "Wrights don't know what losing is.” it took him a single shot, just one bullet shot right into the wolf's head and the beast dropped dead.

With calculating movements, Austin got back to his feet and slowly pulled his lips into a victorious smirk, "My name is Wright.” and in the shadow of the tree, he didn't look fourteen anymore, in the shadow of the tree, he looked just like his brother had seen him, looked like the man his brother had taught him to be, had trusted him to become when he needed it.

"Wright.” his voice purred again in that dark baritone, "Austin Wright.” and he started to cross the small meadow in front of the house, "Wrights kill. Wrights win.” and he ascended the few steps leading up to the front door, "Wrights don't kneel in front of anyone.” and with a hard kick of black leather boots against a wooden door, Austin stepped into the house, "You kneel before us."

\---

At the same time, his brother had been faced with a whole other decision as after ten days of only being gifted with bread and water from hooded men of the Nights Watch the Dragonprince showed his face in the dark room again.

Bringing with him an offer that was cruel and perfectly timed at the same time – Logan had counted the days, he knew that his brother would as well, there was only one more day left, the time to act had come.

"You can chose for one of them to be set free.” the Dragonprince had drawled in his arrogant sneer and Logan had balled his hands into fists, having been restrained by two of the assassin's men. And it had hurt, it had hurt to make the decision, but it had also fit so perfectly into his plan that he had nevertheless smirked before answering.

"Danny it is.” both of his equally restrained co-captives snapped their heads around to stare at him, Logan knew they had both been awaiting a different name to fall from his lips. Danny looked shocked, he had been ready to give up – no, he had given up days ago, given up on ever seeing his family and friends again, but Logan needed him outside, and someone else here inside with him.

No matter how much it hurt, no matter how much his insides were screaming at him to change it, let him go instead of the enemy's prince, but he needed to ignore his heart and go with his mind for now. He needed Julian, green eyes tried to put the entire message into a single look, and ever so subtly, Julian nodded. He had been ready to argue for Danny to go anyway, Logan could see it.

"Danny gets to go. He has to deliver a message to his king anyway.” and green eyes went from challengingly staring at the raised eyebrow over violet eyes to the still too pale face of Danny. "Go, run home, and tell Justin that he has one last chance to come to his right mind or my fury will not zero in on Windsor alone anymore. One last chance to get back to being Switzerland."

Danny straightened up immediately and the last amount of his will that wasn't broken yet got turned into hot fire, "Logan, you can't. This is not Justin's fault, he is completely under Charlie's spell, he is being used.” the smaller boy argued, at the door the Dragonprince chuckled in complete amusement.

"Hanover will stand with Windsor if it comes to war. Just like Lancaster will with Stuart now. It's done, Danny. I don't want this war, I don't want even more people to die, but I have to be prepared.” as the men began to drag Danny from the room, he started to fight to keep his eyes on Logan's face, he wasn't done arguing yet.

"Hanover hasn't allied themselves with Windsor...” was his last desperate attempt, and Logan almost felt pity for the younger boy, he had spent so much time away that coming home would feel like a horror movie.

"You were gone a long time, Abbott, many things have changed. I'm letting you run away with your life, get home and tell your king that if Amos is more important to him than his boys' lives then his blood will taint the ground first.” and Logan narrowed his eyes at Danny who visibly swallowed and stopped fighting in the arms of the red cloaked men, the Dragonprince stepped almost gleefully to the side, and it was right next to him that Danny sent one last look to green eyes.

"Logan..."

"GO!” the blond king screamed as a foot connected with the back of his knees and forced him down, Julian dropping equally painful to the ground, Danny stopped moving and let himself be taken away.

"So endearing.” the Dragonprince chuckled as Julian groaned on the ground and Logan moved to help him up with a murderous sneer towards the men leaving the room, "Don't worry, they'll drive him safely up to your little kingdoms. Now, isn't it a pleasure you chose wisely, Wright?” biting his tongue to keep himself from lashing out at the taller man, Logan held Julian to his chest, "He may get his show after all.” and with his puzzling words still sounding in their ears, the man with the silver blond hair in a ponytail nodded once to the camera with the light suddenly flickering alive and then he stalked from the room, the door falling shut behind him.

They spent a moment in silence, with Julian staring at Logan, and green eyes glaring down the black steel door, and it wasn't until the brunet leaned his head back down onto Logan's shoulder that the blond sighed and looked away from the door.

I'm gonna get us out of here. My plan only needs one last moment of patience.

Reaching up a hand to stroke it through oak brown hair, Logan leaned his chin on top of Julian's head, dropping his voice to a quiet whisper, he had no idea if they could only watch or hear as well.  
"I'm sorry.” he breathed into the smaller boy's hair, Julian pushed one hand against his chest and pressed his fingertips against his skin, the old tricks, but Logan knew he was listening, "I should have chosen you, but I couldn't. I need you.” fingers opened a button of his shirt and a hand slipped inside, coming to rest upon his heart, "I can't do this alone, but I will get you out of here."

"How much longer?” Julian almost mouthed against the skin on his neck and Logan had to strain his ears to hear him, but then he pressed two fingertips against the back of Julian's skull, "Days?” 

Stroking his fingers down Logan stopped at the start of Julian's neck, "Hours.” Julian almost gasped against his skin and Logan tapped his fingers against the nape of the brunet's neck.

"Approximately. My watch stopped two days back.” fingernails crawled themselves into the tender skin on his chest and Logan hissed, fighting against the urge to push Julian away, "Just close your eyes for a while, we still have a little time.” shifting them a little until Logan could lean back against the wall, he kept holding Julian to his chest as the younger boy drifted off again, keeping every ounce of energy sacred. Logan knew that Julian was exhausted and tired, that he was weak but hated to show it, he was only a feather in his arms anymore, but they had to fight to get out of here. They would need to be strong one last time until he could finally bring an end to this.

And while Julian slept, the blond's mind was racing, going through it all again, looking for the strings, pulling at them to once again make sure that everything would fall into place.

I know I can rely on you, brother, show me that you are more like me than you are like John. Show me that you are who I always saw in you.

\---

Austin knew that his real target wasn't home, they all knew that Tess was usually hanging around her new play things during the day and only returned home to the only constant in her life in the last two years. The Lord Commander.

His shoes were silent on the marble floor as he slowly walked towards the grand staircase and let his ears listen for any sign of where he might find the solemn dark haired man. The man who had taken him two months ago. His hands were steady on the gun as he slowly approached the master bedroom with the halfway open door, and blue eyes spotted the half dressed man lying on the bed, eyes set on a book in his hands, not noticing him as he stepped into the room and raised his gun.

"Sorry that I had to kill the beast, we all know he would have been miserable without you anyway.” he chuckled at the end and before the other man has even managed to sit up in his sudden shock upon his presence, Austin had already set a bullet into his chest. Right side.

He wasn't done with him yet, anyway. Grinning and flashing pearl white teeth, Austin set his gun onto the dresser and pulled out the black onyx knife again as he crawled upon the bed, blue eyes laughing with pleasure. "Time to play, little wolf."

\---

Time passed. Logan didn't know how much, he had relied on instinct alone since his watch had died, but with only one small window in the room they had been pushed into a week ago, it was hard to tell what the light was telling you. With the days getting shorter, it was more dark than light.

It was a low rumbling sound that came from the wall that arose Julian from his sleep a while later and that had Logan start smiling into his hair, he caught confused and slightly alarmed sepia eyes, when Julian sat up again, but he quickly nodded and Julian kept quiet.

And so it begins.

"First step.” Logan whispered into Julian's ear as he helped him to his feet, "Get out of this room.” Julian squeezed his hand and then let go as they were both standing again, and then Logan whirled around to face the camera, channelling his frustration.

“He wants a show?” Logan asked, teeth flashed and eyes blazing, sending a quick murderous look towards the camera with its blinking red light, Julian didn’t take his eyes off of the blond king, “So let’s give him one.” the blond snarled towards the camera before whipping his head around to catch Julian’s eyes, “After all, that’s what he came here for.” and with a hand reaching out, Logan pushed Julian against the cold wall, but what must have looked rough to outsiders was gentle almost to Julian, and he glued his eyes to green ones.

Logan stepped towards him until even a piece of paper wasn’t able to fit between them, and Julian raised an eyebrow when Logan pressed him further against the wall, “What are you doing?” he hissed in a whisper, leaning his face into Logan’s neck, feeling the blond smirk against the skin on his shoulder as Logan leaned down to kiss the skin.

“Just play along.” Logan breathed back at him, “It's all in the plan.” Julian was about to comment on how that was so not reassuring him, because which glorious plan had brought them into this fucking perfect situation in the freaking first place, but Logan thrust against him and he felt the gun against his thigh, “I took it from one of the guards, now trust me and kiss me. “ Julian didn't need to be told twice, reaching up with his hands he pulled Logan's face up to his and crashed their lips together.

If this was a show, he would give them a good one.

Grinding back against Logan, he smirked as the blond gasped out his name in a silent warning not to get too carried away, Julian smirked against his lips as they broke apart, "Don't play with fire when you cannot handle it.” he whispered back at the blond king who growled low in his throat and then pulled up his own hands, gripping Julian's hips and bringing their bodies closer together again.

"I know how to play with fire. You'll see soon enough.” Flashing a smile at him, Logan ducked his head into the crook of his neck again and started biting his way down to his collarbone.

Julian threw his head back against the wall, it was so tempting to get carried away after all, to just let himself feel after all this time full of pain and fear, but they had to follow the plan – whatever it was – to get out of here. But Logan made sure to ruin the mood in the next moment anyway, in the middle of him opening the top button of Julian's shirt, he spoke and Julian had to fight the urge to knee him where it really hurt.

"Choke me."

"What? No!” spoken all in hushed whispers, Julian clawed his fingernails into Logan's head, prompting the blond to bite down on his collarbone, resulting in Julian whipping his face up again to look at him by pulling on his hair. Green eyes melted into his, and Julian almost whined when he saw the burning longing for trust in green eyes.

Trust me. I'm going to get you out of you. I will save you.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Julian tried to find the pain inside of him, tried to find the anger, tried to reawaken the fire that he had thought lost already. He wants this, he told himself, he is asking for this. And he thought back to the first days, thought back to the anger that had kept him awake all through the nights, thought back to his screams and the frustration he had felt, the anger towards Logan for not being able to save him.

Channelling all of it, sepia eyes flashed open again and Logan almost recoiled when he saw the fury behind them, but knowing it wasn't all meant for him, he crashed his lips to Julian’s again, caging him against the wall. Julian deepened the kiss and green eyes fell shut when Logan could feel the desperation behind it, but in the next second hands snaked around his throat and started squeezing.

All in the plan. He yelled to himself as the beast in his mind roared to life and the old instincts to fight had him raise his hands to come to rest on Julian's arms, but when he caught sight of sepia eyes clouding over, he knew that Julian wasn't seeing him, just like Julian knew he wouldn't think of him. That the monster inside of him wasn't calling his name.

Soon enough, he could feel his vision starting to black on the edges but he still didn't look away from Julian, still didn't break their gaze, they needed to ground each other, to make sure they wouldn't get lost in memories. Almost in sync they went down then, down to their knees, and when they could already hear footsteps running closer, Logan closed his eyes and went limp under Julian's hands.

I knew he wanted me alive. I knew it. It's all working out perfectly.

He felt himself be lowered to the ground by Julian's hands, and he hoped that the other boy was smart enough to angle his body over his so the camera wouldn't be able to see the gentle gesture, and his heart almost broke into two when he heard the sob wrenching itself out of strained lungs. Please don't be real, he begged on the inside as the noises outside their room got louder, and then as a key rattled in a lock, Julian's hands snuck into his pants.

As the door sprung open, several things happened at once, Julian whirled around with the gun in his hands, and as the guards still raised their weapons, he fired three times and killed each of them with a single shot, and as their bodies were still falling, an ear shattering explosion rocked the building to its foundation and the fire alarm started blaring.

And when they were sure that no one was coming down the corridor upon hearing the shots, Logan got back to his feet and pulled Julian up as well, and raising the brunet's hands while he was still panting against the sudden rush of adrenaline, Stuart's king aimed the gun in Julian's hand at the camera in the corner of the room, and with both of them smirking right at it, Julian pulled the trigger, only to let his arms fall around Logan's neck in the next moment.

"Never make me do that again. Never.” he begged in a voice that sounded more pissed off than shaken and for the first time in two weeks, Logan laughed and hugged Julian to his chest for a moment.

"I promise.” he spoke into oak brown hair and then let him go again, walking over to the dead men, he pulled out their guns and threw one over to Julian, so that he could discard the empty one, taking a gun for himself and some knives, he held out his hand for Julian to take, "Let's get out of here."

The corridor was empty when they ran along it, Logan pulling Julian behind himself with both of them having their fingers on the triggers of their guns, another smaller set of explosions rattled the building and Julian had the unwelcome feeling that he could smell smoke. Faintly, but it was there.

"Who allowed you to make plans with explosions in them?” the sniper bit out as he stumbled over a discarded chair in the corridor, Logan grinned, "I thought we had explicitly told you to keep your grabby hands off the C4 after the incident with the church and the priest."

They turned a corner and could already see the end of the corridor that led to a huge hall with conveyors and big machines, Julian didn't like how the smell of smoke got more and how the light seemed to dance before them.

"I didn't use C4.” was Logan's only dry response and Julian was about to reply how that was not exactly the point he was making, when the blond pushed him to the wall again and sheltered him with his body as another big explosion in the hall let a wave of heat and smoke fall over them. And when Julian opened his eyes again and peered over Logan's shoulder - the entire hall was burning in red, "I used chemical fire.” Logan smirked at him, Julian narrowed his eyes, "Let them see who rules this town now. Let them see what it means to go against Stuart.” taking a step back, green eyes flashed with the fire that burned through wood and metal behind him and he spoke, "Let it burn. Let them burn. In Stuart's name.” and together they started to run towards the entrance of the hall again.

\---

A littler earlier and across town Austin didn't have to wait long until brown leather boots stepped back onto the pebbles in the entry way of the white manor, and he peered down with grinning lips and eyes at the look on a pale face, when the Queen of Roses eyes the open door of her house and the dead wolf lying at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the front door.

She took off into a run then and Austin had to stifle a laugh in the next moment when the shrill scream echoed around the manor, leaning back against the trunk of the tree, he waited, fully intending on watching this spectacle until the end. He knew his message was clear, and he knew even more that she would run now.

But then a tall figure in a dark blue coat stepped out of the thick lilac bushes by the garage and his spine snapped into a straight posture again, with his face turned away from him, there was no way for Austin to identify the stranger, but something about him set him on edge immediately, and he watched with narrowed blue eyes on how the man slowly stepped up to the open front door and then waited.

Tess came running down the grand staircase not five minutes later, a bag clutched in her hand, sunglasses over her eyes prevented Austin from seeing the fear in those dark orbs, but the fire inside of him cooed happily upon seeing her so disturbed. She grabbed a jacket and then almost ran into the strange man, and whatever he had expected, her recoiling with another loud scream had not been one, and he tensed up again.

Do not dare and ruin my game. This is our chase. This is Logan's prey, I am only setting it loose to be chased, and whomever you may be, you will not ruin this.

But the stranger didn't make a move to hurt her at all while Tess stared at him from behind her sunglasses, having backed up to lean against the doorframe, and when the unknown man spoke, Austin had to strain his ears to hear him.

"You better run, my darling. He isn't the sort who likes to play with his food.” Tess's right hand twitched upon hearing his words, but the man just used a hand to open his coat to show the weapon strapped to his belt, "Don't try anything, sweetheart. I've killed women who were prettier than you for less. Now, go. I'm not here for you.” not waiting for another invitation, Tess slipped into the leather jacket and took off towards the red bike while Austin was already quietly climbing down the tree again.

When he was sure that the bike was far away enough, he muffled the click of his gun under his jacket and then stepped out behind the tree again, gun drawn and aimed at the back of the blond man's head.

"Show yourself!” he demanded and the unknown man froze before the stones even crunched under his heavy boots, "Hands up and slowly turn around!” he snarled in the cold tone he had gotten so used to, Derek and Marcus never listened to anything else anymore.

Hands got pulled up, and with slow and careful movements, the older man turned around, presenting his face to him and Austin almost dropped his gun as the colour drained from his face in such an alarming speed that he got dizzy for a second.

"Dad?"

The blond man standing across from him smiled and slowly lowered his hands again as he saw his fingers retreating slightly from the trigger of his gun.

"Hello, son.” John Wright showed two rows of perfect white teeth in his smile and under the dark blue tailored coat his shirt was crisp white, and with his blond hair a little longer than Austin had last seen it over two years ago, he looked so strikingly like Logan on his better days that Austin was left speechless for a moment, "I see time only did you good."

But the offhanded dry comment had his anger snap back to present again, the fire blazing up on his insides again as his heart remembered all the pain, all the hurt and all the disappointment this man had always brought him, his finger snapped back upon the trigger and John's hand snapped back up again.

"Easy there. I come in peace.” only raising an eyebrow upon his father's words, Austin couldn't know how much John had to swallow down the fear inside of him, not seeing blue eyes in the face in front of him, but green ones. Green ones he had last seen over five years ago. And the memory of his oldest son almost brought him to his knees when he saw Logan's fire reflected at him from Austin's still so innocent face, "I see. Your brother has turned you over."

"I never needed him to turn me over. You did that quite well on your own.” Austin snarled and took more steps towards his father, one could clearly see that John was fighting the urge to back off, and Austin soaked it up like the fire did it with oxygen, "It started when you thought treating me like the second class son was the best idea to keep me out of trouble. And it ended when you died two fucking years ago. But as we can see that was just another lie you made to play us like little puppets.” one quick strike of his free hand and he had unarmed his father who continued to stare down at him, "Be proud of your favourite. He developed the same sense for fucked up plans like you did."

John had the nerve to grin at that, and with a quick flick of his hand, Austin had twisted John's hand back and was slowly pushing him to his knees, green eyes grimaced in pain, but the boy-king smiled.  
"I'm not your baggage anymore, Dad. I have Stuart under my command now. I have a brother and a captain to bring back home. I don't have time to deal with your bullshit anymore.” Letting go of him, Austin used his left hand to pull out the black onyx knife and set it to his father's throat, John finally tensed up, "So either you quickly tell me what is going on, or you can stay here until Logan decides how to deal with you. And the last time I checked his sympathies weren't so high when it came to you."

Whatever John had wanted to reply to him, glancing to the black knife at his throat, it got drowned out as the explosion send its shockwave over the city, a loud thundering noise crashing over Westerville, and Austin whirled around as the setting sun was quickly hidden by the thick clouds of dark smoke rising into the air in the distance.

In the distance where the horizon was burning red. Not caring that behind him John got back to his feet and stared with puzzled eyes towards the burning buildings, Austin scrambled for the phone in his jacket, even going so far as to flip the black knife over to his father to have a free hand.

Wait for the sky to burn red.

Derek picked up upon the first ring, and in the background Austin could hear loud, panicked yelling and Marcus's voice trying to get the boys into order again, "Listen to me, Derek. Call Riley and take every boy who is able to fight. The red fire is your goal.” for a short second there was silence on the other side of the line and then Derek cursed.

"He had a plan. He had a fucking plan, didn't he?” he seethed into the phone and Austin rolled his eyes, already moving towards the street again.

"I don't have time for explanations. Just get there and give Logan the help he is calling for.” and without another word he ended the call and stuffed his phone away again, completely aware of the frustrated scream that would rip itself through Derek's lungs at that moment. Maybe after all of this was done, he would offer their Hand a chance for a Wright free vacation, he sure deserved it. Turning back to his father, he pushed all the emotions back that came with realizing that the man he had thought to be forever lost, the man he had never been able to forgive for the pain he had caused him, the rejection, the despair, that his father had played them like fools for years.

"Do you have a car?” John nodded upon his strange question, but Austin focused his mind on the mission alone, all that counted now was to get Logan and Julian back, all that counted now was to fulfil his duties as Stuart's king, making sure their people were brought back to them, "Look, I don't care why you are back. Not now. Whatever it is, it has to wait. You have one choice here, you either stay out of my way or you help me. Decide now.” and blue steel looked into green toxic venom.

 

(And once again, if you want, you can start “Demons” by Imagine Dragons now, for the same reason as before)

"Logan!” Julian called him back as he was already bracing himself to make a run for the other side of the burning hall, and Logan groaned and looked back over his shoulder, where Julian was gasping, holding one hand to his chest, the other one still keeping the gun at the ready.

"What? What is so fucking important that it can't wait another five minutes?” it was maybe too cold to snap at him like this, but his heart was hammering in his chest, it was so close, he was so close to finally getting Julian out of this hell hole. Finally so close to getting Julian back to safety.

"Logan, I...” clearly at the end of his strength and at the brink of collapsing, Julian closed his eyes and tried to calm his breathing for a moment, Logan walked back to him and reached for his hands, gently stroking his thumb over the back of the brunet's hand. He would be safe, he told himself, he will not get hurt anymore, not as long as you are still standing.

"Jules...” he prompted as quietly as it was possible with the distant sounds of gunshots and the cracking of wood and steel breaking under fire, and Julian raised sepia eyes to look at him, and Logan almost choked on his breath as he became aware of the tears in Julian's eyes.

"I love you, too."

There was no time to process his words, let alone really work through the million emotions crashing through him at that moment, because Julian had barely finished his declaration when the southern door exploded into a million pieces and Logan drew the smaller boy against his chest again to protect him from the heat of the fire flaming up around them again.

But then as they both looked up again, they found themselves staring at shocked but relieved hazel eyes as several boys in Stuart and Lancaster colours flooded into the burning warehouse hall, and gunshots echoed from the walls again. Grabbing Julian's hand and pulling him over the old conveyors that were already catching fire as Derek and Riley jumped down the wrecked staircase.

Riley was as composed as ever when they met in the middle, ducking behind an overturned car as the bullets between Nights Watch and Dalton boys flew around, but it wasn't hard to guess who had the winning hand this time. Derek's hand briefly touched both of them, Julian's cheek and Logan's arm, before he straightened up to breathe more calmly.

"Is this all of them?” Riley wanted to know as he handed a gun to Logan and Derek reloaded the weapon in Julian's hands, Logan shook his head and nodded to the corridor they had come from.  
"I doubt the Ghost is really here, this doesn't look like a place for the evil mastermind, but the Dragonprince is running this place, and considering that the Night's Watch men are throwing themselves from dark corners like crows, their Commander can't..."

"He is dead.” Derek fell Logan into his sentence and green eyes stared at him, "Austin killed him.” Julian gaped, but Logan frowned at their best friend, Riley casually directed his gun at the widely grinning bronze haired men approaching from behind Logan.

"Where is he?” Derek could only shrug his shoulders, "Where is my brother, Derek?” Logan snapped and took one step closer to his Hand, but Derek didn't even blink out of order, just held his gaze.

"I don't know. I haven't heard anything from him until he told us where to go to find you. But after what he did to the Lord Commander, I doubt he needs any help saving his own ass.” Julian joined Logan in frowning at the hazel eyed boy, but it was the king standing next to him who answered.  
"He carved him up, Logan. I sent Terry over to make sure he was really dead, he found the wolf shot dead outside the house and him laying naked in a giant puddle of blood in the bedroom, carved up from throat to groin. The cuts were so clean that he must have taken a really strong blade."

A black onyx blade.

"Listen, Logan, I don't know what your brother is planning. He is telling me even less than you do, but I do know that this place is going down soon, and I want to be out by then.” Derek made his intentions clear and Logan nodded, he knew Austin was capable of taking care of himself, even though his gut was churning upon the thought of what must have happened to let Austin lose control.

A ringing chuckle had their heads snap up though in the next moment as the tall silver haired man stepped out of the shadows of a huge old concrete mixer.

"Isn't it always precious to know that people are always keeping secrets.” he drawled as always in his arrogant, melodic voice and four guns were raised in sync towards him, but the Dragonprince only chuckled, "I must say I enjoyed your show back there. Was almost enough to convince me that we had honestly turned him against you.” Derek and Riley both glanced at them from the corner of their eyes, but Logan didn't show any sign of being hit by those words, Julian turned his eyes into a hard glare.

The Dragonprince laughed out loud once, only to fall utterly silent in the next second as the red dot of a laser pointer moved over his left eye to settle on the spot between his eyes, right above his nose, and Logan started grinning.

I knew you would have my back.

"Looks like you underestimated the power of my people.” Stuart's king took down his gun and walked closer to the man who had taunted them for days, "Looks like you actually thought that your stupid games would break them apart. Seems like you haven't counted in that if you take down one Wright, one is still left to pick up the sceptre.” smiling to himself he thought himself already the victor when the Dragonprince threw all last will to life out of the window and literally threw himself at Logan with a ravenous growl.

Taken him by surprise, Logan couldn't jump out of the way again and went down with him, rolling towards the burning mess of old fabrics with the pale man trying to claw his skin off on top of him. With Julian's scream surrounding them, they came to a stop only a fingertips length away from the scorching heat of the toxic fire, and Derek was already taking steps towards them when the shot rang out and Logan groaned as the entire weight of a dead body dropped on him.

Biting his teeth, Logan pushed the Dragonprince off of himself and into the fire, whose flames hungrily reached for the flesh of the pyromaniac, but what could have been a moment of relief quickly turned into another nightmare, because somehow fate didn't want to make it easy for them.

With a loud crunching sound that had all of them look towards the ceiling, their eyes had to follow how the old lighting installation first started swinging and then crashed from the ceiling. Riley jumped to push Julian out of the way of a falling spotlight, while the sniper was staring at his king who had scrambled to his feet and had jumped over the burning conveyor again to avoid the exploding wires.

And as the noise vanished again, Riley and Julian were lying on the bottom of the staircase they had come from, around them the last fighting men of the Night's Watch dropped dead, Derek was standing with his gun still drawn in the middle of the collapsed steel construction and Logan was coughing on his knees behind the wall of fire.

"Lo?” hearing Derek's frantic voice had Logan grit his teeth as he raised his hand to signal that he was okay, pushing himself to his feet and biting the pain in his bones away, he stifled the little flames on his pants and then made eye contact with Derek as the last words of the Dragonprince echoed in his ears.

It's a pity that you will never find him now where everything is turning to ashes. You were so close...

And then the bullet had killed him, but all Logan could think of as he looked into hazel eyes was that it wasn't too late, not yet, not while he was still standing, he would find him, he would bring this to an end. And as green eyes switched over to Julian being helped to his feet by Riley, and then pulled up until the top part of the broken stairs by Marcus and Colby, Logan knew that he had to do it alone. He couldn't risk them to get hurt again, he couldn't use them in his plans anymore, the times of baits and luring out was over.

Now he was alone.

Reaching for the gun that had fallen down in his flight from the crashing steel, Logan dropped his gaze onto the engraved feather.

You want my blood. Mine. Not theirs. So let us end this man to man.

And when he looked back up and caught Derek's gaze again, he knew immediately that the other boy figured his plan out for once.

"NO!” Derek screamed instantly, hands twitching to step closer but the heat of the fire kept him back, Logan kept his eyes calm and strong, up on walkway behind the railing, Julian had snapped his eyes up to stare at them, Riley was probing the back of his head, but Logan couldn't look his way, he knew he wouldn't be able to go then.

"It has to be, Derek.” the blond spoke in his calm words, he had never felt so sure about a plan, he knew this would work, he knew this would work if only he had all his heart in it, "I'm gonna end this, Derek. I'm gonna bring an end to him and his games. His time is over, he will pay for the blood and pain he has brought upon his. I have to do this. Alone.” he saw the exact moment Derek realized that he was right, that this would only work out if Logan was alone, "He is watching us. He will come out. I know it. He will show himself. Trust me, Derek.” it was hurting him, Logan could see the pain in hazel eyes, but Derek nodded and already took a step backwards as the fire reached for another stack of old fabrics.

On the walkway, throwing himself against the railing, Julian started screaming, Riley and Colby immediately coming to hold him back, they had only come to help, not to intervene, but the captain between them didn't care. All he could see was his king's intention to sacrifice himself. All he could see was the boy he loved more than he had ever cared for anyone else stand behind the wall of flames while the one boy who could have helped him slowly moved back to the stairs.

In the east corner of the hall a gas tank exploded and another wave of 12 feet high flames shot towards the ceiling, and as the heatwave crashed over him, Julian's scream suddenly go quiet again as the sensation triggered a memory he hadn't known to have forgotten.

A memory from six weeks ago.

And he didn't feel Riley's hands on his back, gripping his shirt and starting to pull, he didn't see how Derek let himself be helped onto the walkway, defeated and crushed, he didn't see any more how green eyes turned to look at him one last time.

All he could hear was his voice, laughing at him through the speakers while he was crouched in the corner, hands pressed over his ears.

There is no escaping anymore, little Jules. Soon enough he will be gone forever, and you will be mine once more. Mine. Just like it should have been. Just like it was before he intervened. Before he took you away.

All he could see was his shaking hands as he had lost the strength to keep them pressed over his ears any longer and his laughs had echoed from the wall, and in the corner of the room the screen had flickered to life, and from under the blue hood those dark eyes had stared at him.

He will not cross me again. He will not succeed once more.

And a scarred hand had reached up and had pulled off the hood and even now with Colby yelling in his ear to move, with Riley curling both arms around his chest to drag him away from the slowly collapsing hall, Julian could only hear his screams from six weeks ago as he had stared into the face of his biggest nightmare.

As he had stared into the face of the Ghost.

He felt nothing anymore as the coldness clawed its way into his heart, and he slumped into himself, it was over, they were lost, there was no way back anymore. And his threat echoed in his head.

My name is the Ghost. Dalton will burn, and I will start with you, and everyone who thinks sacrificing themselves for their wrong king's untainted life.

Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.

And as the boy with the oak brown hair got pulled into the corridor by their allied friends, hazel eyes caught green ones from the top of the staircase again, and his blood turned ice cold within his body as Derek watched Logan disappear behind the scorching wall of orange flames of fire as the ceiling came down upon them.

For a moment he stood frozen to the ground, kept his eyes fixed on the fire, and despite all odds his heart longed for the moment when a blond wall of muscles would jump through it, landing safely on the other side. Their side. But nothing happened, nothing but Marcus and Lawrence gripping his arms on either side and dragging him off into the corridor.

I'm gonna end this.

I'm gonna bring an end to him and his games.

Colby closed the doors behind them once they were safely inside the corridor, and with his gun drawn he kept his eyes on the door for a moment longer before following them. Lawrence and Marcus both let go of Derek as his legs started working on their own again.

Trust me, Derek.

Easier said than done, Derek thought as he kept his eyes firmly away from Riley and the brunet in his arms and set on the end of the corridor.

Trust me, Derek.

"I trusted you to save Casey. I trusted you to keep Marcus away from the bullets meant for you. I trusted you to keep Franzi safe. Now look where that got me. Don't disappoint me again, Logan, not with your own life. Not when it means losing you. Not when it's your blood being spilled.” Derek whispered to himself.

I trust you, Lo, now don't let it be for nothing.

"No!” Julian suddenly started screaming again, snapping out of the shock and paralyzing silence he had fallen into upon collapsing in the fire, "NO!” his voice broke easily, too much ash breathed in, but he continued yelling, fighting against Riley's hold around him with an energy he couldn't even own anymore.

He was crushed, he was broken, there was nothing left inside of him anymore but the fading strength of his voice, "No, we have to go back! Go back, right now!” but Riley staid oblivious of his struggling cargo, instead he pulled Julian further down the corridor, eyes never leaving the path in front of him. He couldn't look back, he couldn't give himself a second of thinking about what laid behind them.

"We have to save Logan! We cannot leave him behind!” Julian's feet meekly kicked against the thick black boots, Riley stumbled once but only tightened his hold around the younger sniper and went on, "No! No, no, no, no!” he was losing it, sepia eyes frantically looking around the people surrounding him, "We cannot leave them there! We have to make it!"

"There is a fire, Julian. It's too late to go back, we will all die.” Marcus tried to be rational, tried to be cold, but he couldn't meet his captain's desperate eyes for more than a split second, he hated the plan himself. Before them, the door to the outside finally came into view and Lawrence and Colby hurried forward to view the situation and secure their exit.

Julian turned to the person he knew would feel his pain as well, but Derek was looking straight ahead, gun still drawn, ears listening for any sounds of danger, "Derek, we can't. We have to try, we cannot leave him behind!” but his friend didn't show any sign that he had heard him and the despair crashed fully over the thinner brunet.

"NO!” he screamed and wailed even louder, "LOGAN! LOGAN!” his voice echoed around the corridor and Marcus winced and hurried forward, and it didn't take more than another five seconds until the chilly evening air fell over them, and it was then, in the middle of the parking lot in the pouring rain that Julian's legs gave out after all and he slipped from Riley's hold onto the wet ground, everything inside of him crashed and the scream of pain and hurt escaping him had Derek falling to his knees right beside him, drawing him against his chest.

Riley dropped to his own knees not a feet from them, panting heavily, dragging a hand over his face in exhaustion.

"Shh.” Derek tried to calm Julian down, but the sniper was too far gone, screaming and crying for the king he had to leave behind, "Jules, we have a plan. Logan has a plan, we had to leave him behind. We have to follow the plan.” but even though he explained in logical words, it hurt him, and his voice cracked, it was hard for him, but Julian knew that whatever plan they had would fail, and he frantically shook his head again.

"No, no, no. We have to get Logan out. We have to get him out. The Ghost, Derek, he...” and he started coughing, his entire body wracking with horrible rough coughs deep in his lungs, Riley hurried to shrug off his jacket to hold over the crying boy, while he gestured for Colby to get their car, "The Ghost, Derek.” and sepia eyes looked up at hazel ones, and it was the horror and terror, the blind panic that froze Derek as Marcus edged closer, "It's him, Derek. The Ghost.” Julian was only babbling incoherently anymore, "The Ghost, it's....George."

To be continued in Act II: The Ghost, Part III: I hate surprises.


	7. Chapter 6 Part 1

Act II: THE GHOST

Part III: WE WILL LIVE BECAUSE WE'RE SURVIVORS. 

Part 1

Previously on “A Game of Kings”

\---

And as the boy with the oak brown hair got pulled into the corridor by their allied friends, screaming at the top of his lungs, hazel eyes caught green ones from the top of the staircase, and his blood turned ice cold within his body as Derek watched Logan disappear behind the scorching wall of orange flames of fire.

“It's him, Derek. The Ghost.” Julian was only babbling incoherently anymore, “The Ghost, it's.... George.”

\---

Present

\---

Austin didn't really think about what he was doing when he grabbed his rifle and jumped into his father's car, assembling the weapon on their rushed drive over to the old factory on the outskirts of town, and steadily ignoring the disbelieving looks John sent his way. He pushed the feelings of surprise and shock from his bones and concentrated everything on the mission at hand.

Now is my time.

“Who taught you how to shoot?” Rolling his eyes and grabbing onto the steering wheel to pull the car into a sharp right turn, John struggling to keep the car under control, Austin huffed.

“No one did.” he explained, sending an ice cold glare towards the man who had always held him back, who had only ever seen his perfect fighter of a son, who had mastered knives at an age where Austin had barely been able to walk. “No one had to, some things just come naturally.”

“Being a sniper doesn't come naturally.” John pointed out and Austin rolled his eyes again, muttering quietly about how stupid adults could be before sending a false, sweet smile in his father's direction, showing almost every single tooth.

“No, but having perfect aim and a temper built upon unresolved rage does.” he calmly explained, and when John still looked disbelieving, Austin could literally see Logan face palming in front of his inner eye, just like it had been so many times in their childhood. “Just drive and be quiet.”

They reached the factory from the eastern side, having had to circle around to avoid being spotted by a Windsor convoy, and by the time they arrived at the huge complex of buildings and warehouses, the flames had already engulfed the biggest warehouse entirely. Austin jumped out of the car before his father had even turned off the engine, and let his eyes fly around the area, looking for a good spot with a clear view of the burning warehouse, and when he saw the four-story high administrative building, he took off without a second thought.

Running towards the rusty fire escape, he climbed them at record speed, sniper rifle slung over his back, John ever at his heels with his own gun drawn, green eyes flying around, but the outside of the factory was almost dead, no hooded figures or blond soldiers to be seen anywhere, which on the other hand meant that the fight was only happening on the inside of the warehouse and Austin would have to hurry to do his part.

Once he was standing on the building’s roof, he pulled the rifle from his back and threw himself onto the ground by the edge, overseeing the burning fiasco that had formerly been the biggest warehouse. John stopped at his feet while Austin's fingers assembled and readied the rifle on autopilot alone.

“What do you think you will achieve with this?” the words were growled under his breath, revealing his father's blatant disregard for his sons' wellbeing and interests. Austin snarled his answer.

“I will do the one thing you never managed to do. I will have my family's back. And now step back so I can concentrate and maybe, think about having my back while I work.” and when he was finished he turned raging blue eyes away from his stunned father and leaned down to look through the scope of the sniper rifle.

It took him a moment of searching through shattered windows, but then he found Julian and Riley standing side by side, and he followed their aimed guns until he found the source of the tension. Their blond heads stuck out, even in the fire hell, and Austin didn't hesitate to point the laser right onto the Dragonprince's face, no better way to show his brother that he was ready now.

He was about to pull the trigger when the self-proclaimed pyromancer threw himself at Logan and Austin cursed under his breath, ignoring John's question of what was going on, in favour of following the struggle of the two men with baited breath. The young sniper waited for his chance and then resisted the urge to close his eyes when he took the shot.

But a second later, his breath left him in a giant gasp of relief when Logan pushed the dead body of the assassin off and struggled back to his feet, only to jump out of the way of the burning lighting system crashing to the ground in the next moment, and Austin's heart skipped a beat stop when he realized that his brother was cut off from the others.

“What is he doing?” He whispered at no one and nothing as he watched Logan and Derek speaking with each other over the wall of fire, and then he narrowed his eyes as Derek left the hall with the others, Riley dragging a screaming Julian away. “What the hell is your plan, big brother?” but even as he scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion, he remained lying on the ground, the scope of the rifle following his brother's movement inside the fire-ridden warehouse.

\---

It took only minutes but then the entire warehouse was filled with heavy smoke and the unbearable heat of the fire, and Logan coughed and pinched his eyes shut as he stumbled away from the burning corpse of the Dragonprince and tried to find his way back to the northern corridor, between all the debris and fallen beams and burning factory paraphernalia.

When he slipped back into the long corridor, squeezing himself through the narrow gap the destroyed door and the dead bodies of the mercenaries left for him, he leaned against the wall for a moment, breathing in deeply three or four times because the smoke hadn't penetrated this part of the building yet, but Logan also knew time was slowly running out for him, so he shook the lethargy off again and hurried to search through the old offices again.

He found what he was looking for in the fourth room, full of small screens and keyboards. It had formerly been the security office of the factory, but the cameras now showed quite different images. Two screens were black and Logan supposed the related cameras had still been on the property as back-up safety and had been destroyed by the fire. One screen showed the now empty room they had been caged into for the last two weeks, and he spared it a brief, hateful glance.

But he was more interested in the four screens in the centre of the wall, where four cameras showed four different views of one building, one Logan knew like the back of his hand. And it wasn't the white three story mansion on Stuart's territory, it was the old colonial-style train station in the middle of Westerville, the one building that had in the past been the only possibility to cross over the Death Zone without being shot when times had been tenser between them and the Traders.

And the screen in the left corner showed him exactly who he had been looking for in the last six months, and he almost didn't feel his hands balling themselves into fists as he saw the face he had hoped to never have to cross again. His lips worked themselves into a sneer while green eyes glared at dark ones, set in a scarred face.

“This time I will kill you for good.” Logan snapped, and then whirled around as another crash rocked the entire building. His legs carried him back into the burning warehouse and he had to jump against the wall when another beam crashed down from the ceiling, the heat washing over him like a tidal wave, rendering him incapable of moving for a moment and for just that short second, Logan was convinced that he had waited too long.

That he would die right there now, with no chance to ever save his friends. With no chance of every making right what he had messed up. Mistakes. So many mistakes, it shot through his head while he remained pressed against the wall, green eyes tightly pinched shut, body shaking in fear and exhaustion. You failed too many people already, you should have taken your chance to end all of this one and a half years ago, when you had to chance, when you had him right there in your fingers.

But instead you let him go and waited to use his fucked up plan for the greater enemy, and look where this had gotten you now, Logan. Being burned alive in a factory, with no one around to help you, because all you ever managed to do was lose important people. All you ever manage to do was hurt everyone with your own pain.

\---

Flashback

\---

“Just go!” Logan screamed and swept hand over the shelf in the old liquor store, bottles full of wine and cider crashing to the ground left and right of him, covering the ground in shards of glass and ugly red and brown coloured puddles. Breathing heavily after his outburst, Logan braced himself with both hands against the shelf and dropped his head down, “Just please go and leave this town.” he repeated his message, calmer and much quieter, but the brunet boy leaning against the wall not far from him still didn't seem to understand.

“I don't understand why, Logan.” and from behind his fringe, Joshua Tipton looked up with almost despaired brown eyes, “Why do I have to go? We haven't even started our plan yet.” across from him Logan closed green eyes tightly until it egged his already thundering headache on even more, and he almost clawed his fingers around the edge of the shelf board.

“It's not our plan, Josh, it was your plan.” he whispered into the empty store and Joshua pushed himself away from the wall, confident steps leading him over to the blond king, his blond king, “It was your plan and it can't happen. It was too much, it's over, Josh.” He felt the smaller boy's presence by his side in the next moment, and he only then became aware of how tense his body was, how prepared for a fight, and he felt fearful upon realizing that it was the boy he had loved who awoke these feelings inside of himself now.

“Logan.” Josh almost purred, raising a hand and softly placing it upon the blond's arm, Logan's reaction was immediate, whirling around and pushing Josh away with both hands, he watched as the smaller boy stumbled away with the force and then fell onto the ground, only narrowly avoiding reaching into broken glass. Shocked brown eyes looked up into stormy green ones in a face contorted by rage, hands balled into fists, at Logan, who was more or less towering over him, breathing heavily through his nose.

“Don't touch me.” Stuart's king seethed, digging his fingernails into his palms to keep himself from lashing out even more, letting the pain ground him. He needed to get out of here, and quickly, he needed to get back to Derek and Julian, back to his brother, back to people he could trust.

“I'm trying to make it better, can't you see it? I'm trying to help you, make you even greater than you already are. Logan, it will all be yours.” Logan closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to push his luring voice away, too many times he had fallen for it. “You have doubts, I can understand that. It's Derek and Julian, they got into your head, they are trying to hold you back from greatness.” Green eyes flashed open and for a second Josh froze as fire raced over his skin.

“Leave my friends out of this. This is between us, Josh, no one got into my head. And these are not doubts, you are crazy, your plan is a mistake. It is doomed to fail, and I can't tell you how happy I am that we managed to stop it. You would have killed all of us. It wouldn't have worked. And now I am left with the fuck ups, I am the one who has Amos and Bancroft sniffing around for treachery at his back.” his voice was full of the anger he tried to hold back in his fists. “It's over, Josh. All of it. Your plan. Us. And your time here. If you ever truly cared for me, ever truly wanted to do this all for me, then please, please just understand and leave.”

For a moment, they stared at each other, Logan almost trembling with his anger, Josh completely silent and unmoving, but then the brunet boy picked himself up and grabbed the jacket that he had dropped an hour ago. “I love you, Logan. All of this, I did it because I love you, because I know that you can be stronger and greater than this. You can't be just one king out of four, not forever, you are meant for something greater.”

“Please just go, and don't ever come back.” He knew that begging so openly was a sign of weakness, but this whole conversation was hurting him as much as it pleased and relieved him, and he watched as Josh shrugged on his jacket, not taking his eyes off of him.

“What if I don't want to go?” Josh continued to push his buttons, and Logan took one step closer to him, and uncurling one fist, he reached up with one hand and cupped Josh's face.

“I would rather die than hurt you, but if you stay, you are not leaving me any choice. I have to stop you, Josh.” Logan whispered, leaning their foreheads against each other, he let them have this one last moment, “If you don't leave and promise me to never come back, I will have to kill you. I don't want war, Josh. So please, please make this easy for me and just go.”

Josh reached up with both hands, stroking over his cheeks before pushing his fingers into blond hair, pulling Logan down for one last kiss, and then while green eyes stayed closed, Josh silently left the store, and as Logan let one single tear fall over his cheek, he got into his car, and with one last look over his shoulder he drove off.

\---

End Flashback

\---

Pushing himself off the wall again, Logan shook his head and hid his mouth and nose behind his sleeve again, he couldn't give up, not now, he had to go on. Blinking through the smoke, he let his right hand continue to feel along the wall, his feet following with careful steps. Every crash, every creak, it send shivers down his back, but it edged him on even more, you gave a promise to them, don't fail them, never again. You can't leave him alone, not now. You left him once, you left him behind once, don't ever do it again.

He knew Julian was out there somewhere, waiting for him to make this right, trusting him to get out of this alive, trusting him to have a plan, and whatever happened on this day, he couldn't fail Julian, not again, not like he had done it all these months ago when he hadn't been able to pull the trigger on Josh. He had a plan and he only needed to see it set in motion now, it would work.

It took a few minutes, but then a red laser broke through the smoke in front of him, stopping right in front of his feet, and Logan could have cried in relief at his brother's help as the laser dot slowly but precisely moved to the only remaining fire exit, and then waited in front of the door until Logan's hands reached for the handle. He wrenched the door open and started to run the moment his feet touched the first step.

\---

Riley quickly took his boys to secure the area around them, they had to be careful now, vulnerable and exhausted as they were already, not knowing what was yet to come, but Derek appreciated the gesture of leaving them alone for now in another light as well. They had just had to leave their king behind, while their crown prince was still absent as well, and with the news of the Ghost's identity having left Julian's lips only minutes ago, all of the Stuart's heads were still reeling.

None more than Derek's own, while he was still holding onto a hysterically crying Julian, kneeling in the leftover puddles of last night's downpour, a few rain drops falling into his hair and down his face. On the inside he was burning alive, with panic, with fear, with worry about Logan's fate, about Austin, about Julian, about all of them.

George. George, George, George. The name kept on echoing around his mind, which couldn't make sense of it - he had been killed. Logan had killed him. Logan had cut his throat, Logan had shown them the bloody blade, dripping still with it. George had died, how was this possible?

“Shh.” he heard himself try and soothe the brunet boy in his arms, but he didn't feel the calm himself, hazel eyes fixed upon the burning factory, his rationality knowing that it was almost impossible to make it out of this hell of chemical flames. Marcus fell to his knees beside him, holding a hand to his chest where one of the hooded man had thrown himself feet first upon him during the fight.

His other half's face was ashen almost and grey eyes looked at him for denial, to out the lie behind Julian's words, Nick, Lawrence and Thad had all paled as well, their inner circle, the boys who had all had their hands in throwing their former Wing leader off his self-proclaimed throne.

“Derek.” Lawrence was the first to say a word and Derek shook his head, “How is this possible?” he only continued to shake his head, cradling Julian to his chest, it wasn't, it just wasn't.

With the tears still falling like waterfalls over his face, Julian wasn't faring any better, helplessly struggling around the darkness in his head, the pain in his heart choking him, making him sick, they had forced him to leave Logan behind in the fire, he had let Logan get away, he hadn't been able to keep him by his side.

“We have to do something.” Nick declared, wringing his hands as Lawrence and Marcus dragged a hand down their faces, “We can't let him do everything alone. We have to help him.” Derek winced as the small boy's words hit him, repeating only what Julian had screamed only moments earlier, but it wasn't him who came up with a reaction, it was the boy with the oak brown hair.

“He has a plan, doesn't he?” Julian's silent and broken voice spoke out and Derek closed his eyes when sepia ones stared up at him, but he nodded nevertheless, “Then we wait.” Julian decided, even though it almost ripped his heart right out of his chest.

You've never let me down, please don't start now, Lo. I need you.

\--

Pushing open the door, he stumbled onto the roof, lungs aching when the first fresh air reached them and he gratefully accepted the hands catching him before he could fall to his knees. Green eyes falling open as the coughs calmed down, Logan had pushed himself away and his gun trained on the older man within seconds though.

“John.” his lips sneered without him really intending to do so, Austin slowly came to stand next to him, a hesitant hand reaching out to touch his arm, but his hold on his own gun didn't slack off either, telling Logan enough of what must have been going on in his brother's head. His own mind was swirling with the image of his not so dead father after not having seen him in five years, he still looked the same, didn't even get any grey hairs or crinkles. John looked as though he hadn't aged a day, and that told Logan enough about their father's potential worries about their wellbeing.

“You don't look that surprised to see me.” John raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow over a green eye and Logan narrowed his own ones. How dare he say it, after everything he had done, after everything he had ruined for them, only to of course pop back up at the worst moment in time ever!

“With you?” Logan huffed and pulled Austin behind himself, “You've gone against everything I ever wanted for myself. So why would dying be any different.” He snapped at his father, who started to glare back at him then, behind his back, Logan could feel how his brother turn more uncomfortable, “How was I supposed to be convinced without a body. Trust me, I would have loved to have proof of your final demise, would have made it easier to rest at night.” Austin punched his spine, but Logan remained cold, gun still aimed at his father's head.

“I see you are still living by my rules.” was the only comment John saw fit to give and Logan snorted, “Or am I wrong?” Green eyes in a younger face rolled twice.

“Oh, this has everything to do with the rules. I'm waiting for the plot twist to bite me in the ass, so be a good gentleman and hand over your gun.” He spoke with calm and calculated words, and John huffed but still flipped the gun in his hand, raised it, and held it out for his son to take.

Logan snatched it away and pushed it into the pocket of his jacket, and after one last glare at his father's face, he turned around and almost stumbled back from the force Austin used to throw himself closer to him, slightly shaking arms coming around his waist and back.

“I'm okay.” he promised quietly, curling one arm around his brother's back and using the other hand to cradle Austin's head against his shoulder, “I'm alright, I promise.”

And when Austin drew back again and blue eyes looked up at him, Logan could clearly see that his brother was the one who was so far from being okay. Concerned, he raised both hands to cup Austin's face on both sides, but Austin's blue eyes quickly glanced to the right where John was shifting on his feet, and they then turned begging almost - Logan got the message though.

Not right now, not with him here. Later. Please.

They had been able to communicate non-verbally basically since Logan had been able to hold his baby brother's attention long enough to get a message across, and by the time Austin had been able to properly speak with him, they had been so good at it that they had spent days in each other's presence without uttering a single word but still knowing what the other one was feeling at all times. It had been a useful trait as the tension between their parents, and the power hungry tendencies of their father, had drawn more and more enemies towards their family.

So Logan nodded and moved his fingers to press one fingertip against the back of Austin's head, rubbing it in small circles until his brother visibly relaxed, it was almost too easy sometimes how some things found out in early childhood even worked more than ten years later. Then, in synchronized steps that prompted the same annoyed look in their father's eyes that they had been able to achieve more than a decade ago, Logan and Austin turned around to glare at the older blond man.

“Alright, now spill the beans, what do you want?” Austin snarled towards the oldest Wright and when John moved his hands towards his coat's pockets, he had two guns aimed at his head in no time. He huffed to cover up the positive terror he must have felt upon seeing his two sons, who couldn't have been more different in his eyes upon growing up, so in sync now, mutual understanding and respect straightening their spines, the same distaste and rage against him flowing in their blood.

“Why do you think I came here? Just to chat?” John directed his question towards his older son, who shrugged his shoulders, sending a defined look towards Austin to take down his gun as he did the same.

“A guy can hope.” Logan muttered and continued to glare at his brother who stubbornly refused to cave in under his venomous stare. John huffed again, a sound both his sons had grown so accustomed to over the years in New York that they didn't even really hear it anymore, and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I know who the Ghost is.” John spoke out without taking his eyes off his younger mirror image, and Logan stared right back without blinking while he felt how every hair on his brother tensed up as he grew rigid, and he could sense how much it was costing Austin to not set a bullet into their father's shoulder socket to get him to talk, so he decided to not draw this out too long.

“Yeah, surprise, surprise. I know that, too.“ He answered in the cold and emotionless tone he usually used on Windsor's nutjob of a leader, the one that portrayed no emotion but the blatant hate for his conversation partner.

“See, he… wait... WHAT?” Austin exploded after having gone to defend his brother, whirling around and finally lowering his gun he stared with wide eyes at his brother, mouth hanging open.

“I’ve known for a little over three weeks. I’ve had suspicions for months, but considering that I promised Derek to not obsess over it, I didn’t look for proof until I thought it to be all lost anyway.” Logan explained and Austin turned redder and redder from held back anger with every word leaving his mouth, but the blond king knew his brother deserved nothing but the simple truth by then, he just wasn't expecting a teenage temper tantrum.

“You knew it was George for weeks? Are you fucking kidding me?“ Austin yelled at him and almost spit in his anger, before he became aware of their silent audience again and dragged a hand down his face before continuing much more calmly. “How long have you known that George wasn’t dead?” Logan sighed and turned so that he wasn't seeing John's every look in the corner of his eye.

“Two weeks after I supposedly killed him.“ he confessed and Austin gaped at him for another long moment, and Logan wondered how Derek or Julian would have reacted in this conversation, he would have probably lost some precious skin if it had been the latter.

But he was glad that Austin found his voice again rather soon, because thoughts of Julian brought along the heavy guilt and pain in his heart about what had to happen now in order for his plan to work out. He would do it on his own, the killing, he would do the work, but his friends and his love would have to do one more thing for him, and it was already ripping him apart on the inside.

“But how?” Austin wanted to know, looking so confused for a second that Logan saw him as the fourteen year old boy he truly was, and not the brother who had to grow up way too fast for him.

“Josh. “

Silence reigned for a while minute then, no one said a word while Austin blinked and stared at the fire behind Logan's back, searching for something to say, and Logan gave him the time he needed, he knew it was a shocker. The lost Windsor prince was an unspoken topic in Stuart, no one ever dared to bring it up, fearing they would bring their king's rage upon themselves, it wasn't the truth, Logan couldn’t have cared less if they talked about it or not, but then he had also been glad that Derek had been so persistent in getting everyone to be quiet, he had been hurt pretty badly back then.

He didn't know then if Austin decided to let it slide or if he was too stunned to ask all the questions that Logan was expecting, he suspected the second choice, a lot had happened and even more was still bound to happen, but he knew that after this day had ended, after they were back home and safe, a lot of questions would come his way, and not only from his brother. Quite the contrary, Derek and Julian alone would demand answers to topics that would probably be able to keep Logan talking until his death of old age.

It was John then who directed the conversation into another direction again, something Logan was unhappily grateful for, not that he would have ever admitted it out loud, but as his father asked, “What is your plan, now? What are you going to do?” he took a deep breath and turned around to look at John again, Austin threw up his hands and just followed his example.

“A little entrance with bullets flying left and right, then a quick little talk and then I'll make sure his throat gets cut through and through this time. And if I have to behead him, I'll do it with a smile on my face.” he said, narrowing his eyes at the smile that bloomed on his father's face, but it was Austin who spoke first.

“Can’t we just… just once… not go the dramatic epic murder of the century path?” the blond boy whined into the approaching night. He sounded so much like Derek that Logan almost laughed, but instead he chuckled and then let the sarcasm coat his words.

“That’s rich coming from you now.“ he directed at his brother, turning to face him alone again.

“What do you mean with that?” Austin demanded to know, narrowing his eyes and balling one hand into a fist, unseen to both of them John rolled his eyes and shifted his weight onto another leg.

“Boys.” he admonished their behaviour in a parental tone that sounded even strange to his own ears, and never reached his son's hearing.

“Demanding the less dramatic way where we don’t kill our victims like a tiger with rabies.“ Logan pointed out and raised an eyebrow when Austin opened his mouth to protest.

“I gave him what he deserved.“ Stuart's prince spluttered and Logan raised his other eyebrow as well.

“Boys, seriously…” John tried it again and this time he got a reaction, but not especially the one he was hoping for, because his sons synchronized again.

“Don’t call me boy!” Austin and Logan screamed at the same time, only sparing a second long glare at John, who looked shocked for a moment before glaring at each other again. It truly was the worst timing for a brotherly quarrel but Logan wanted Austin to unleash some of his tension before they went into a killing spree.

“Ah, and you don’t think I gave mine what they deserved?“ he asked right back and Austin huffed.

“Well, my grand master plan didn’t throw the person I love back into the arms of his biggest nightmare.” it was maybe a little bit too much stress that got unleashed in that moment but Logan knew he could take it and that Austin didn't mean half of the things he said now.

“No, yours got her killed.“ he went in for a low blow as well to equal their standing, and Austin reached out, delivering a harsh slap to his face.

“At least I didn’t fuck up the one kill that was important!” he yelled and then immediately slapped a hand over his mouth in shock over his own words, looking terrified, but Logan only nodded. It was okay, he was right after all, Logan had come to terms with it long ago.

“This is now really not the time…” John tried it for the third time then to bring them back to focusing, not realizing that his sons had already been preparing all this time.

“SHUT UP DAD! “ Was the deserved response he got then.

“Listen.” Logan breathed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before he dragged the hand down his face and started to speak, “I have a plan, but I need to get some things and talk to Derek, so can we please let me explain this on the way?” Austin groaned but still pushed John towards the fire escape again, not looking back to check if Logan was following them, but Logan smiled slightly, knowing that even when the world was standing on the edge of destruction Austin would still let him act first and then explain later.

\---

“Do you have your phone?” Logan called down to Austin as they raced down the fire escape of the not-yet burning truck garage of the factory, John following them. His brother nodded hurriedly, already pushing a hand inside his jacket, “Does Derek have his phone?”

“I believe so.” Austin called over his shoulder, flying around the banister when he reached the ground, throwing his phone into Logan's hands as they fell into step next to each other, completely ignoring the man whose car they were running towards.

Groaning when his brother's phone flashed to life with the password question, green eyes glared at blue ones, Austin glared right back and Logan punched in the five letters and quickly scrolled down to his friend's number. Three rings later, Derek picked up with a seething question of “Where the fuck are you?”

“On the other side of the factory, currently running from a building slowly catching fire. Is anyone hurt?” there was silence on the other side of the line, while Derek realized that he wasn't speaking to his prince, but to his king.

“You... god fucking dammit, Logan, you got out. Are you okay?” he could hear several people shouting his name in the background, but Logan rushed through his words.

“We don't have time for small talk right now, Derek. You need to do something for me, and you have to trust me. Tell Julian to be strong, for me, that he will have to do one more thing for me befor George can die. Marcus, him and you, you have to do something for me before we can kill him.” they reached the car and Logan ripped the keys out of John's hands, sliding into the driver's seat while Austin slid into the seat behind him, John grumpily taking the passenger seat.

“I'm all ears.”

\---

“Wait, say that again.” Marcus stuttered out on the passenger seat as Derek pulled the car from the parking lot for the fifteen minute drive into town, Julian was frozen on the backseat, “What did he tell you?” Derek could understand the disbelief in his voice so well, but Logan had sounded sure, he had sounded as if this was the turning point the story had been waiting for before the twist came around and Derek sure hoped Logan had the best cards in his hands that he had ever owned.

You will get us out of this or I swear I will haunt you for eternity because the guilt alone will keep you alive.

“He wants us to give ourselves up to George.” Marcus spluttered in shock again, Julian whined quietly, “Wants us to pretend that Logan finally betrayed us and left us to rot.” Marcus snorted and Derek couldn't blame him.

“This is honestly the worst plan he has ever come up with.” the Kingsguard snapped, showing just how much the tension and strain of the fight had taken out of his patience, “Seriously, worst plan ever. Even the church-priest-fiasco was logical compared to this and we all know how that ended. You can't be seriously with going through with this, Rick.”

Before Derek could say anything that didn't come close to agreeing that yes, this was the stupidest plan that had ever found root inside Logan's head, Julian's head suddenly popped up between their seats.

“Quite on the contrary, Marcus. This is the best plan he ever came up with.” Derek almost choked on his surprised gasp, Marcus stared open mouthed at Julian, whose tear stricken ash pale face looked even more sick in the artificial light of the jeep, “A bit dramatic again, but it's not like we shouldn't expect anything else by now.” Derek and Marcus both scrunched up their nose for a small agreeing nod, Julian's sarcasm was almost like balm for their freaked out heads.

“But think about it, the only one who could have told on our lie about Logan abandoning us in the fire is dead. Burned in his own favourite little toy. With the Dragonprince gone, George can't really know what Logan is up to, let him think he has us now.” and Julian sank back onto the backseat, sepia eyes clouding over again as the icy cold fingers reached for his heart, “Let him think he got me now.”

Derek caught his eyes in the rear-view mirror immediately, “But he doesn't, Jules. He doesn't have you. Do you hear me?” the brunet nodded, Marcus looked out of the window when Derek lowered his voice, “Logan has a plan, may it be fucked up, and we have to play our parts now, but don't for a second forget that it is an act. He will never get you again, Julian, never again lay a hand on you. Think of Logan and only him when we are inside there. Logan will come and save you.”

Like he always does, was the unspoken ending of Derek's words and Julian nodded again, kept the image of green eyes at the front of his mind, kept the whispered three words close to his heart, he will come and save you, because you are his, and he his yours and no one will ever get to come between you again.

“We're here.” Marcus broke through the sudden silence in the car and all three of them looked at the picture of the train station that glowed orange in the setting sun. Derek parked the car on the other side of the little town square and for a moment they kept on sitting in the car, watching as Nick and Lawrence pulled up beside them, no other cars, and no other boys. Just the five of them.

Riley would lead his boys and the rest of Stuart's fighters to sneak closer from further away to remain from being seen, they would secure the area and the building from the side entrances, they would keep their backs free and safe.

“This is going to work.” Derek softly spoke into the car as no one moved, “We have to believe in Logan and Austin. We have to trust them. We just have to play our roles now.” and in sync almost they reached for their guns and knives and laid it all bare in the car, unarming themselves of almost everything before they stepped from the car.

\---

“Welcome!” George's voice boomed through the hall as he stopped in the middle of the great staircase, Derek could feel Julian wince beside him, almost shaking in fear, but Derek was too frozen to comfort him, his eyes were too fixed upon the face he had thought he would never have to see again. But there he was, grinning, smirking in his stupid overconfident attitude that had gotten him pushed off his leader post and killed in Stuart, that and the psychotic need to possess Julian like a chew toy.

But whatever you do, don't even for a second let Julian out of your sight, keep him at arm's length for all time.

“Take those two out.” George almost sang, gesturing to Nick and Lawrence who wrenched their heads around to stare at Derek, who looked straight back at them, act it out, like we agreed on, “And make that one kneel, I only need Seigerson and Larson.” his hands twitched but he kept standing on the spot as the two hooded men approached Marcus on his other side, but the dark haired boy knelt on his own, and Derek almost felt sick upon sensing the amount of trust he had in him and Logan.

You love me too much, he thought to himself and kept the grimace on the inside, as he felt fingers curling around the edges of his jacket sleeve, and he briefly glanced over to Julian. Wearing Riley's jacket and looking pale as a ghost – Derek almost slapped himself for the comparison – Julian was staring with wide eyes at his old tormenter, and Derek could see the fight in him, the horrible fight to keep away from the dark and painful memories.

Keep him focused, keep him from slipping. I will safe him again.

“Logan.” Derek whispered and sepia eyes flickered over to him, “Logan, Jules. Only think of Logan.” only a timid nod followed his words and Derek used George's current lack of attention on them as he watched Nick and Lawrence getting beaten up by what was left of his men to take Julian's hand. Still a lot of men were around, but nothing Stuart and Lancaster wouldn't be able to take on, a lot of men, but acting like one stereotype after the other.

Now, we only have to wait, but we'll get through this. On top, always on top, because this time we are in this together, not just Logan and Julian alone. Together. All of us. So, let's wait, Derek thought and squeezed Julian's hand.

They didn't have to wait long.

\---

All it took was half an hour.

\---

There is a loud bang as the southern door flew open and off of its hinges, crashing to the ground and into the heaps of sand with a thick cloud of dust and sand rising into the air for a moment. As the air cleared again, nothing looked changed, nothing out of the ordinary, no one was standing in the now open doorway.

Silence settled over them as Derek, Julian and Marcus tensed up even more, the quiet air around them was suddenly filled with anticipation and death looming over their heads, and Derek was the only one daring enough to chance a look towards the man still standing half that step in front of Julian, Lawrence’s and Nick’s unmoving bodies to his feet.

He was standing straight, his hands balled into fists again, and he still was not holding a gun, and Derek just couldn’t get a proper read on him. Was his trust in his men’s abilities this big? Or was he just simply so stupid as to not reach for a gun himself?

They had killed so many skilled assassins already, Logan alone had singlehandedly killed three of them, so why was he still standing there with the everlasting calm of a rock… Something was foul, something was very, very foul here. Julian must have shared his opinion, because he frowned down at his feet for a moment until he settled slightly confused sepia eyes back onto the dark hair of their captor.

Was this a trick? Moments to give them hope before he would finally end their lives? Despite all of his claims of giving them the kingdom and the king they deserved and were worth, Derek was still waiting for the gun to be pointed at his head again, for the trigger to the pulled, for the dagger to be wielded. And he didn’t need to look far to have his thoughts mirrored on another one’s face, for Marcus looked just as much disbelieving and on edge as he felt on the inside, still kneeling next to him on the dirty ground, Stuart’s highest ranking guard was the best example of why this fucking madman was lying to them.

A true king doesn’t need fear to stay on top. A true leader doesn’t need threats to have his men’s loyalty. A true leader doesn’t need to force his men into submission.

A true king was just and fair, ruled with power and strength, but also compassion and his mind. A true king was a leader because his men wanted to follow him. And Derek saw nothing of it in the faces of the Ghost’s men. These men fought for vengeance in a place they wouldn’t be able to find it, they fought for their own justice against people who couldn’t give it to them. They followed him because they were too scared to lead a life without someone guiding them, too scared of a life without orders and commands where the demons of their pasts would haunt them again.

Murderers. Rapists. Child abusers. Terrorists.

They each had their own ghosts haunting them in the night, Derek had seen it in each of their faces, so they followed the one true Ghost that haunted them all at the same time. And he abused their ill minded loyalty for his causes, believed himself to be safe because he thought them to be scared enough of him to die for him instead of by him.

Logan had never wanted to be king. He had never wanted to have to lead a kingdom and have boys and girls under his responsibility. All he had ever wanted was to step out of the shadows his father had thrown over him, to step out of the pressure to follow into footsteps he deemed not interesting. All Logan had ever wanted in all his life was peace, to be at peace with himself and to know that the people he cared about were safe.

But that had all been crushed into the dirt the moment Marcus had crowned him king, and Derek knew that Logan had spent many sleepless nights coming to terms with it. It hadn’t been his choice, but there could have never been someone more suited to take it on.

Logan had never forced them to kneel, had never forced any of them to remain in Stuart. He had given them a choice when he had had none himself. He had let boys go and find out if their families had survived, and he took each of them back after they had returned empty handed with their hopes crushed, and he had given all of them a purpose again. He had always protected them, even before a title had crowned his name, he had always made sure that no one in Stuart got hurt, whether it be by their inner Dalton enemies or outside forces.

He would rather die than see any of them come to harm just because their colours are red and white. He had sacrificed himself to his nemesis, not only because of Julian, not only to protect Austin, but for all of them.

Logan was a true king. He could be ruthless and deadly, dangerous and violent and out of control when he needed to be, no one was better at hand to hand combat in Stuart, no one was more precise with a knife in a kill than their king. But he was also fair and rational, he would think about the consequences of his actions before taking them, even though it didn’t look like it most of the time.

Logan was powerful not because of the blood in his veins or the temper so many of his enemies saw as an uncontrollable and all destroying wildfire, that only spoke to him personally. As a king, Logan was powerful because his boys thought him to be so, because his boys believed in him. Not in his title, not in his blood, not in his name or the power behind fists, guns and knives. They believed in Logan.

A good king was only as powerful as the people supporting him.

Stuart wasn’t loyal to Logan because they were scared, Stuart was loyal because Logan was loyal to them.

And with a jolt Derek knew what was happening, and he whipped his head up in the same moment that Julian and Marcus did when the low chuckle sounded from somewhere in the hall, with the echo booming from those old walls it was impossible to point out where the sound had come from.

The Ghost’s men and those who were left of the Night’s Watch whirled around with drawn guns, eyes snapping from the left to the right, searching for something in the shadows as Derek reached for Julian’s wrist and pulled him down to his knees as he moved to kneel on the ground as well.

Whatever Logan had up his sleeve to get them out of this dead end, it was better to be prepared, because it had definitely been their king’s deep voiced chuckle reaching their eyes. Marcus pushed himself up to his right side and flipped out the small knife from his left sleeve, handing it to Julian without anyone seeing.

The Ghost was still staring right ahead at the empty doorway, and they could all feel a sudden tension falling over them that was thick enough to be cut with a sword. Another chuckle rang around the hall and Marcus and Julian turned their heads to stare at Derek who looked back at them in equal surprise.

It had been younger, higher, less amused and vindictive.

Austin.

Guns clicked as the safety pins were unlocked, and Julian curled his hands stronger around the handle of the knife, before them, only divided by the Ghost’s feet, Nick opened his eyes, quickly closing them again when Derek glared at him and drew his finger across his throat.

Play dead.

But under the shielding safety of his body, the smaller black haired boy curled his hand around his gun again, just like Lawrence did next to him. Was there a plan no one had told him about? Was there some secret backup plan Derek couldn’t remember? But the fact that Julian and Marcus looked as confused as he was, told him that they knew nothing as well.

And Logan would have told them, right? Would have told Julian about any secret plans or schemes he had been working on in secret for long now. He hadn’t been angry with Marcus in his last days in Stuart, so he would have told him about any plans, right?

He hated the unknown. And he hated even more that Logan knew it so well.

But his heart and mind was set even more on edge as a third chuckle echoed all around them. Deep. So utterly bemused. So utterly creepy and judging. The sound repeated itself in Derek’s head again and again, and he paled so fast that Marcus and Julian both reached for his arms.

It couldn’t be. It couldn’t be true. He couldn’t be here.

“Derek? D, what is it?” Julian whispered at him harshly, “Who was that?” he wanted to know as George ordered five of his men to search the broken door, still believing he was invincible. Derek swallowed and looked from Marcus’s worried face to Julian’s puzzled one, and he had to work his lips around the word two times, too hard was it for him to believe that it really was real.

“John.” he whispered into the dead silence over their heads that was only broken by the careful steps of the five hooded figures closing in on the fallen door. And as Julian still snapped up his head to look towards the pillars (later Derek would think he had heard the flash grenade being clicked), another small explosion rang out and the whole south end of the hall vanished in thick white smoke, and then the gunfire started.

George finally moved and rushed towards the staircase on their right as Julian whirled around on his knees and slashed the veins on the back of the closest mercenary’s knees, with a scream the man fell to the ground and chaos erupted. Marcus and Derek lunged for the fallen man’s weapons as Nick and Lawrence jumped to their feet and fired at the remaining three men surrounding them.

From the side corridors more armed men raced into the hall and Marcus pushed Derek down as the machine gun fire rained down over their heads, but it was nothing compared to the picture that presented themselves in the second after it.

From behind the smoke three figures clad all in black emerged with guns drawn and firing at the unsuspecting men storming the hall. Bullet after bullet found its mark as the three blond men moved in a straight line towards them, grim faces and cold eyes focused on their targets.

Three pairs of pale hands. Three pairs of watchful eyes. Two venom green and one sky blue.

Two generation of Wright men. Two brothers and their long thought to be dead father.

Their true king surrounded by Austin and John.

Logan walked in the middle, a familiar black rifle strapped to his back that he threw towards Julian once he was close enough, but he didn’t stay with them as more and more men fell under the storm of bullets. While Lawrence and Nick moved back to back just like Derek and Marcus did, while Austin jumped upon the wrecked car to find higher ground, as John relentlessly shot bullet after bullet into hooded figures, Logan moved towards the staircase.

Shooting bullet after bullet towards the Ghost’s feet whose high laughter pierced even though the drowning sound of gunshots, Julian was immediately drawn to his king’s back, taking care of the silver haired women suddenly appearing in the alcoves above them.

And then suddenly, as George had backed himself up against the barricaded double doors that once lead into the theatre hall, Logan stopped shooting and grinned, and down below the last of the food soldiers dropped dead from a bullet shot from Austin’s gun.

“And so we meet again.” Logan’s voice was devoid of any emotion as his feet reached the top of the stairs and green eyes raised themselves to spit fire at darker ones, “For the last time.” he smirked as he lowered his gun to rest it casually in his hand next to his leg, Julian, standing by his side, didn't relax a little, nor did he take the red laser dot of the sniper rifle from George's forehead.

“Why do you think that you will succeed in killing me this time, Logan?” their old leader quipped back at him with the same old coldness, the same old arrogance that had in the end lost him everything, but had he barely managed to swallow down his anger back then, now Logan could only chuckle.

“Things have changed, George. You might come to see that I am not the boy anymore that I was two and a half years ago.” his lips almost pulled themselves into a smile and Julian wondered what he knew that they didn't, at the bottom of the stairs Derek stopped with only one foot still on the ground of the entrance hall, and it wasn't until Julian shortly glanced to his right that he saw Logan's left hand signing down to their brunet friend behind his back.

Fire. Out.

Derek looked as confused as Julian felt, because there was absolutely no fire in the train station, he couldn't hear it, he couldn't smell it, so why was Logan signing about fire.

“Oh, you are still him. That little arrogant boy who thought he had me, but who then trembled too much to cut deep enough.” George's voice interrupted Julian's thoughts again though, and he shifted the hold on the rifle when Logan narrowed his eyes.

“You had people waiting on you, to save you, because you were expecting us to rebel. And you knew that I was coming for you that night, because someone told you. Someone ratted us out, but you also knew that it was too late to take actions against us, you knew we were too many.” Logan's calm voice still rang out in the entire hall as Lawrence, Nick, Marcus, Derek and Julian all listened with baited breaths, John had only eyes for his lost son and Austin kept his gun pointed at dark corners above them.

“So, you went another way. You called in favours and collected your people around the house, knowing that you would never be able to fight us down, but that those men would still be able to save you after I was done with you.” Logan knew that he was right with the guesses he had kept secret for years when George looked annoyed for a second before his overly confident smirk was back on his face, “I don't know how they did it, but the scar on your throat tells a story of much pain and suffering and I can't even describe how happy I am about it.” he sent a small smile towards their former Wing leader and took one more small step towards him, George cowered back against the doors.

“He is not armed, Lo.” Julian felt he strange need to point it out to his king, who signed a quick 'Quiet' his way, Julian rolled his eyes, but was still surprised when Logan spoke again.

“Oh, I know. I know that he carries no weapons. He is afraid of them.” was the blond boy's explanation and Derek and Julian both raised their eyebrows, well, wasn't that a revelation, Logan continued.

“Josh found out two weeks after I supposedly killed him that George had somehow survived.” Julian swore to himself that he would strangle someone the next time he heard that name leave Logan's mouth, “That he had been taken over the border to Canada after some men had patched him up in our local hospital, remember that it was all before Riley took control over it. Funnily enough he got his information from those men himself, mercenaries looking for quick money, who had directly delivered George to a mental institution after he had completely cracked, mumbling all day about glory, kingdoms and kittens.” Logan growled the last word, flashing his teeth, George staid unmoved.

“They didn't seem to have treated him well there, rumours have it that they didn't appreciate the lack of money flowing their way, nor did they appreciate the way he kept on attacking them in the night. Josh might have lacked realistic assessment in the end, but he sure was dedicated to his own missions, he got countless reports stating that patient number 346 wet himself at the sight of a gun or a knife alone, that he started screaming hysterically whenever you left him alone with blond man. You chose a good name for yourself, George, because you truly are nothing but a ghost anymore.” Julian smirked as the picture painted itself in his own head, chasing all those dark memories away, he had been pushed to the ground over and over again by this monster, but he had always picked himself up again.

“How do you want to lead a kingdom without a gun? How do you wanna be king without a knife? You can't sit back and watch the show, you can let the Queen do the watching, a king has to fight.” Logan pronounced every word slowly and clearly, “A king has to throw himself in front of the enemy to protect his people instead of throwing his people into the line of fire to protect himself. You were always selfish, arrogant, you loved nothing more than yourself. You pissed off a lot of people, but no one more than the most dangerous man Dalton has ever seen.”

Julian felt himself unable to tear his eyes off Logan.

“You took what was mine. You took what didn't belong to you. You tried to take him from me, and you'll have to die for that. For everything you have ever done. To him. To me. To all of us. You will die today, George.” Logan was snarling at the end and before his anger overtook him and he acted too soon, he turned around, knowing that Julian would have his back, he turned to look at Derek, “Get out. All of you, take them out, fight your way out, or you will burn.” Derek looked as though he wanted to argue for a second, but then he really got aware of the order in Logan's voice and the determination in green eyes, the world would burn and if they wanted to live, they had to get out.

Gesturing for the boys to go, the hazel eyed boy sent a defining look towards the older Wright when John didn't look that excited about being ordered around by his son of all people, Marcus and Nick pulled Austin from the car. Content when he saw everyone hurry towards the exit doors, Logan swung back around to his prey, “And now we play. One of my games.” What he didn't expect though was the last ace George had up his sleeve, only one last try to draw the ending out.

Whatever trickery he had used, it worked somehow, because as the doors fell open behind George in the next moment, Logan and Julian were stunned for a moment and Derek even stopped as the last one still in the hall, hazel eyes staring wide eyed at George laughing manically before turning around and running into the dark theatre hall.

But the stunned shock was broken when Logan growled and drew his gun again, throwing a quick look over to Derek again, “Get out! Right now!” Derek glared at him but still turned around and finally followed their boys out of the train station. Julian missed the feeling of his rifle, but he knew there was no use for it in a close quarter chase, but it still always gave him a feeling of security. A feeling he only got back, when Logan reached for his hand and pulled him up the last steps of the staircase and then closer to the door.

“Here, take this.” the blond whispered to him, already peering down into the pitch black theatre hall, Julian snapped his head up when he felt the ever cold blade being carefully pressed into his hands, handle first, and he curled finger for finger around the priceless weapon. Catching green eyes, he saw Logan's intention and nodded once.

End him. Let the demons disappear. Hunt them down.

“Go left, I'll take right.” Logan mouthed at him and then his hand searched for the light switch by the door, blinding them all for a moment when the spotlights illuminated the rows of seats.

\---

They'd always worked best when no words were exchanged and Julian and Logan herded their prey down the rows of seats in the old theatre hall, their amused chuckles echoing from the walls with the great acoustics, and George stumbled more than once over his own feet and Logan wondered if they had finally brought him to his breaking point.

The stage had been destroyed months ago as the Dalton boys had led a vicious attack against the human traffickers who had thought to use this theatre as a stage for their body auctions, many people had died back then, not on their side, but a small bomb had completely destroyed the inner decorations and props, and George ran into the trap like a blind sheep.

Eyes still flying around like the ones of a frightened animal, he was trembling and whirled around to ran back where he had come from, only to find himself face to face with Logan's gun, and the blond king not far behind.

“Game over, Wong.” Logan smiled, there was no sign of Julian anywhere around them, but he knew that the brunet had understood his game, he would play his part in given time, Logan hadn't given him the blade for nothing, Austin had only been too happy to hand it over to him, and now it would finish the job it should have done over two years ago.

“You can't kill me. You caved into your weakness the last time, you will do it again. Your knife will fail again.” George coughed, backing up until Logan snapped a hand out and twisted it into a part of the older man's shirt, the ugly thick scar on George's throat was almost glowing, the strain of the run pumping the blood through his skin with adrenaline, he would bleed beautifully. Lowering his gun, Logan grinned.

“It's not always the question of how, most of the time, at least for us, it's the question of who will kill you.” Logan smirked and forced George to take another step back, the dark haired man gave a surprised twitch when he felt a body connect with his back in the next moment and then he tensed up as the cold surface of the blade pressed against his throat, 

“Do you remember who said those words to me?” Logan raised an eyebrow, dark eyes narrowed into a glare, a last one, “I said you would die today, George. I never said I was going to be the one to kill you.” and as their tormenter opened his mouth to give out one last needless answer, Julian set the blade sideways and wrenched it over George's throat, Logan stepping out of the way just in time to not get hid by the blood spluttering the ground in the next second.

George gurgled and then fell, rolling to his back and staring up at the brunet boy with surprised eyes, Julian's face was a mask of cold indifference, only Logan knew better, as the sniper drew his gun and aimed at the dying man's head, pulling the trigger without waiting for some other obstacle to fly their way. Bullet after bullet flew through the air.

“He is dead!” Logan called out but Julian still kept on shooting, bullet after bullet into the dead and unmoving body of his nightmare, “Julian!” the yell was so close to his face, but Julian couldn't stop, couldn't listen to him, could only stare in lifeless dark eyes, finger pulling the trigger over and over again, “Julian, he is dead, you can stop now.” it wasn't until Logan's voice was right at his ear and his fingers reached out to take the empty gun from his hands that Julian felt the panic bubble drop down.

And as the tears started to fall down his face, he whirled around and buried his face in Logan's chest, the blond's arms instantly coming around him to hold him tight, “It's okay, Jules, it's okay. It's over, he is dead. He is never coming back.” Logan whispered into his ear and then pushed him slightly away as the fire took down the first ceiling beam, looking into still terrified sepia eyes, Logan tried to smile, “It's over, but now we need to run. Get to the roof before this fire ends us as well. Can you still fight, Julian?”

All he got in return was a quick nod as Julian straightened up again and reached for his hand, Logan raised their clasped fingers and pressed a quick kiss onto Julian's bruised knuckles, “Free. You'll be out of here and free soon, I promise you.” Julian nodded again and then blindly followed Logan as the taller boy led them through the burning debris to the hidden fire escape by the stage. The door was slightly jammed, but Logan got it open in no time and then they were running up the flight of stairs, knowing that only the rooftop would save them now from burning to death.

This wouldn't become their grave, Julian wouldn't die in this place as well, not with George. Never with him.

Logan could barely feel the stairs under his feet as they flew up the floors until he caught side of the steel door at the end of the small corridor, he knew time was running out on them, they needed to be on top of the building when the reaction set off, the fire would consume everything on the inside. They needed to get out and off this godforsaken place in the next minutes or everything would be over.

They reached the door and Logan couldn't help but curse when it didn't move, the handle shaking in his tight grip, but the door didn't budge an inch, Julian pressed himself to his side as the first heatwaves of the fire crawled up the stairs, and with it came the smoke and both of them quickly pushed their sleeves over their mouths as Logan drew back for a first good kick.

One minute later, it was like an earthquake erupting all around them, and Julian screamed as Logan finally kicked the door to the roof open, pulling him out along with himself as the staircase collapsed beneath them, and they tumbled through the door and onto the cold concrete of the rooftop as the sky turned golden around them.

\---

Only a quiet buzzing noise alerted them that something was very wrong, but before any of them had any chance of finding the source of the strange sound, before the Lancasters made it back to them at their cars, the world went up in flames.

Literally.

Austin couldn't even count how many explosions went off in the worst chain reaction he had ever seen, Nick and Lawrence both pushed him to the ground before he could have stared a second longer at the courthouse exploding right in front of his eyes.

Derek fared a little better in his observation, still hovering over Marcus panting for every breath with his hands pressed over his chest, he jumped back to his feet as the earth shook beneath their feet and the thundering explosions left their ears ringing.

And all around them the buildings went up in flames, debris went flying in all directions, not far from him Colby pushed Riley to the ground and shielded his king with his own body as the post office fell apart within seconds.

With horrified eyes, Derek watched as houses exploded and collapsed in a strange domino effect, and it took him a moment to realize why it didn't seem as random as it may have appeared, and words came back to him, words that Logan had spoken to him over two years ago.

He plans to burn a ring around Dalton. He wants to burn it all to the ground to create a buffer zone for his kingdom. He doesn't care about lives, Derek. He only cares about the power, he's been stealing C4 from Windsor and Hanover for weeks. He will go through with this if we don't stop him.

“Fuck.” Derek swore and helped Marcus to his feet as the other boy groaned, “This is Josh.” and then Marcus's pain was forgotten and grey eyes were fixed on his face, “Not here, I don't mean that he is here. This is his doing, Logan used Josh's plan against George instead of Amos and Bancroft.”

As the explosions went further east and west from them and only the train station was still left standing, burning red in front of them, Austin got to his feet again and yelled over the noise of collapsing buildings.

“Josh? Why did he want to blow up the Death Zone?” Derek threw up his hands, Logan had never come around to explain the reasons behind it to him, because things had gotten fucked up and no one had ever dared to speak the Windsor's name again, especially not in front of Logan.

“Isn't it more important why the train station is still standing and where are Logan and Julian?” Marcus's question quickly stopped the whispers that had started all around them and all their eyes quickly switched back to the burning building they had just escaped from.

\---

Julian waited a moment until he was sure that he wouldn't feel flames licking his skin in the next moment until he pushed himself off the ground and stared out over the roof, sepia eyes watching as the buildings left and right of them went up into flames, breaking apart like a house of cards in the wind, it could have almost looked beautiful if his ears weren't ringing with the sound of dozens explosions.

He turned around when Logan grabbed his wrist and pulled him further away from the now broken door, the fire was present up here as well, but the fresh air and endless sky over them made it almost bearable, “What is going on, Lo?” he asked when he became aware that Logan eyed the exploding line of buildings with contentment, “Is this part of your plan?” but Logan didn't answer at first, just pulled Julian closer to the edge and nudged his chin towards the small black packages that were arranged all over the roof.

And Julian froze, because what his mind had initially taken in as a system of lightning rods for the train station and theatre now looked quite different on second look. Dozens of small black packages were neatly arranged in a regular pattern over the roof, connected by cables that now turned out to be fuses. Whirling his head around he stared at Logan as the curtain fell down in his head, “This is Windsor's lost C4.” around them the explosions got quiet as they moved further back, Julian's head was racing, “Josh's great master plan. Blowing up a circle of death around Dalton as a safety zone, demonstrating his power. And this right here, this was supposed to end up being Amos and Bancroft's burning grave. You turned Tipton's plan against George.” Logan nodded.

“It was all laid out once I saw it.” the blond started in a small voice, “I needed to push and poke him until I had him exactly where I needed him. I know that George always thought this place was safe and unbreakable, I knew he would think himself secure in here.” pulling out his gun, Logan pulled him closer again, “This was only step one of Josh's plan, the one I couldn't stop him from preparing anymore, but in the end it came in handy.” Julian punched his chest and narrowed his eyes.

“And how do we get off here now? What's the great escape plan?” he pushed the ugly jealousy over Josh finding their way into their lives again and again even after he left far away and looked up into green eyes, Logan didn't even look scared, only smug and content that his plan had worked out, and exhausted, and not for the first time Julian wondered how much he would be able to take. He himself was running on adrenaline alone, and he knew that once his body and mind realized that he was safe, he would crash.

“There is only one way. Trust me.” Logan responded in his calm voice as the first flames appeared in the doorway on the other side of the roof, and Julian wondered how long they had left until the fire set off the explosives, Logan gestured over the edge of the roof with one hand and the brunet understood, in the next second the first flame touched the fuse and Julian pressed himself against the tall body in front of him.

Logan grabbed Julian's hand as the sizzling sound got louder around them and Julian pressed his head harder against the taller boy's chest, the ringing in his ears almost making it impossible to distinguish Logan's voice from the explosions around them.

“Don't let go.” the words finally rang through to him when Logan's lip whispered them right into his ear, lips ghosting over his skin, and Julian shook his head against him, he could feel how Logan pulled his right arm back and then the bang rang out. They both felt the heat falling over them as the flames shot into the sky again, and Logan quickly pulled his arms around Julian again, trying to shield him from the danger.

But Julian took half that step with one foot back and turned his head to look up at green eyes, and Logan pulled up a hand to trace over the blood on his lips.

“We're in this together.” he spoke out against the row of C4 going off behind them, and without needing a hint, both of them took a step closer to the edge of the roof.

“Always.” Julian agreed, turning away from Logan when his foot reached the edge and he could feel the sweet nothingness under it, they kept their hands tightly clasped though as Logan turned to face their freedom as well, “Always together.”

And as the roof collapsed under their feet, Logan and Julian both pushed themselves from the edge and jumped. And as they fell through the light of the setting sun, the world exploded into fire all around them.

\---

The entire roof of the train station building exploded into flames right in front of his eyes, and but as the others covered themselves and sought shelter behind cars and walls, Derek didn't hold back any longer.

Pushing himself away from the car he had been crouching behind, he ignored Marcus's loud scream of protest and started running over the parking lot.

I will not fail you a second time. Never again.

No one moved to follow him, too exhausted, too tired to move, this fight had taken everything out of them, but all his thoughts were focused on getting to the two boys who were almost all he had left. All he could focus on was to not lose any more of his family, it numbed the pain in his legs, it drowned out the exhaustion in his muscles, and it let him be deaf to the call of his body for peace.

There wouldn't be peace if he couldn't save them. No peace without them.

The building was starting to collapse as he rounded around the old and now broken newspaper stand, jumping over the kicked fence that had previously kept curious kids from reaching the rails, Derek didn't draw his gun. There was no one left to hunt him, no one left to hurt him but the fiery enemy he couldn't fight against.

His feet tripped over a rock but he caught himself before he could fall against the edge of the train platform, using his hands he pulled himself up on it, his eyes raking around in the thick smoke that the wind carried over the rails now, at his left side the building sizzled and cracked like a log in the bonfire.

They had managed to get out, there was no other thought on his mind, after everything they had done, after how far they had come, after everything Logan had risked to win this fight, he wouldn't let them burn to death in a flaming grave.

Straining his ears, he tried to find any other sound but the fire when he reached the back of the train station where the rails went off into almost every direction, but where no train had been for a long time.

“Logan!” his felt himself screaming before his mind had even been made up, lungs straining against the heavy air around him, “Julian!” and then as the wind turn with a long breeze and the smoke cleared away, he saw them.

Face darkened by ash, Julian was kneeling on top of the abandoned wagon with the load of fabrics for the hospital that had never reached its destination, and now it had been their rescue. Or not, because when he stopped closer, Derek could see that Julian was shaking like crazy, his whole body trembling with sobs, and there was nothing that could have held him back anymore when he saw the unmoving body in front of his friend.

Blond hair streaked with black ash. Face turned away from him. Too still.

Julian's hands were still desperately moving against Logan's unresponsive face when Derek jumped over the broken pieces of a lift truck and used the momentum to reach the small bars on the side of the wagon, body protesting again when his muscles had to work so hard again, but he pushed it back.

You are not dying on my watch.

He pulled himself over the edge of the wagon and found himself facing the end of a gun in a shaking hand, raising both his hands, palms up, he searched until he found sepia eyes.

“It's me. Jules, it's Derek.” keeping his voice gentle and calm despite the storm raging on inside his mind, Derek waited until recognition dawned in the eyes of the boy kneeling across from him, only then did he take the gun out of Julian's hand.

“He isn't moving.” Julian sobbed out, Derek moved until he was kneeling across from him, Logan lying between them, “He pulled me close and took the brunt of the fall. He saved me. He...” but he was crying too hard to finish his sentence, Derek looked down into the pale bruised face of his best friend.

Because in that moment he wasn't king, in that moment he wasn't a fearless leader, wasn't their only hope for a place of peace and safety in this new world. In that moment, he was just Logan, was just the boy who had been one half of his best friend, was just one third of a trio who had sworn to face the end of the world together if it came to it.

You will survive this. And if I have to breathe the life back into you so it will be.

His hands were calmer than Derek had expected when he reached down to carefully feel for a pulse on Logan's neck, and when he found none, not even on the second try, he threw himself over the blond, pushing the panic back with all his power, not too late. He wasn't too late. Everything, but not too late.

Julian curled both arms around himself to keep himself together, to keep his heart from breaking out of his chest, when Derek leaned down and tried to bring Logan's chest back to rising up and down. The tears were cold on his hot face, he could still feel the flames reaching for his skin, could still feel the wind in his hair, could still feel his body falling. And it wouldn't stop, no matter how much he was pressing his legs to the edges of the wagon, no matter how much his eyes could see the ground right there not far from him.

He was still falling.

And without Logan he would continue falling.

Derek tried to keep the panic away, Julian could see it, could see the fight in his mind to push the emotions away from breaking him as he calmly breathed for their blond friend, “Breathe, you idiot! BREATHE!” his voice yelled out when even after the third try, nothing changed, and in a moment of utter despair and frustration, Derek brought his fist down on Logan's chest.

\---

To be continued in in Act II: The Ghost, Part III: We will live because we're survivors. Part 2


	8. Chapter 6 Part 2

Act II: THE GHOST

Part III: WE WILL LIVE BECAUSE WE'RE SURVIVORS. 

Part 2

Previously on "A Game of Kings"

"He is dead!” Logan called out but Julian still kept on shooting, bullet over bullet into the dead and unmoving body of his nightmare, "Julian!” the yell was so close to his face, but Julian couldn't stop, couldn't listen to him, could only stare in lifeless dark eyes, finger pulling the trigger over and over again, "Julian, he is dead, you can stop now.” it wasn't until Logan's voice was right at his ear and his fingers reached out to take the empty gun from his hands that Julian felt the panic bubble drop down.

 

Derek tried to keep the panic away, Julian could see it, could see the fight in his mind to push the emotions away from breaking him as he calmly breathed for their blond friend, “Breathe, you idiot! BREATHE!” his voice yelled out when even after the third try, nothing changed, and in a moment of utter despair and frustration, Derek brought his fist down on Logan's chest.

And the blond gasped back to life, green eyes flying open.

Julian and Derek both immediately reached out to pull him up, while Logan was still gasping for air, but in an unfamiliar move from the blond, arms soon reached out for them again and pulled both of them close. Julian fell against his chest as his sobs wracked through his entire body and Logan held tightly onto him, arm pulled around his waist as the boy's fingers crawled themselves into his shirt.

On Logan's other side Derek swallowed the fear down and looked into green eyes for a moment, but they didn't need words and with a weak smile Derek leaned his forehead against Logan's forehead and green eyes fell shut again, pale fingers squeezing the other boy's shoulder.

“It's over.” Derek whispered to both of them, using one hand to gently stroke through oak brown hair while Julian fell apart between them, “It's over. He is dead.” and he pulled his arms around them, Logan's head falling into the crook of his neck, “It's over.” he repeated his words, smiling into blond hair, ignoring the feeling of tears falling against his skin.

He gave them a moment to breathe and calm down, and Logan sat back up and wiped a hand down his face after two minutes, patting Derek's chest in gratitude, but Julian kept hanging onto Logan, crying and breaking down. But it was the blond who reached down and slowly pulled the brunet's chin up, tipping his head back, he smiled down at him, Derek used his sleeve to wipe some of the dirt away from Julian's face.

“It's over, Jules. He is dead, he will never be able to hurt you again.” both of them smiled at him as sepia eyes slowly sought out both their faces, “Look up, Jules.” and Logan nudged his head towards the sky, “Look up at the stars. You're free. It's over.” and he did look up, and with the tears still shimmering in his eyes, he caught sight of the twinkling lights on the night sky above them, and when Logan intertwined their fingers and Derek shrugged out of his jacket before laying it around Julian's shoulders, it settled in.

It was over. It was truly over.

His nightmare was gone. Dead. And this time for good. Exhausted, he let his head fall against Logan's chest again, but this time both his friends knew that he was only tired, that the hysterics had been broken.

“Are you okay?” Derek directed at Logan, who nodded, too quickly for his Hand's liking who quickly raised an eyebrow, “Lo... You weren't breathing...”

“Oh, you fall on your back with super speed and not stop breathing. I am fine, Derek, I've had worse.” it wasn't wrong, but Derek would still not let both of them out of his sight anytime soon.

“Let's get home.” the brunet nodded and both of them looked down at the silently crying boy.

“Yes.” Julian croaked out, “Let's go home. I want a bath with Stuart's entire hot water supply.” Logan started laughing then, so loud and free as he hadn't done in a long time, Derek could only shake his head, but still got to his feet and jumped down onto the ground again in the next moment. Reaching up with both hands he first helped Logan lower Julian to the ground, who was still shaking too much to stand on his own two feet, and then he watched with criticizing hazel eyes how Logan climbed down the wagon himself.

He was too strong for his own good.

Nothing showed anymore that just minutes ago he hadn't been breathing, if you counted away the dirt, the ash and the torn clothes, he looked as if nothing ever happened and not for the first time Derek wished that Logan would finally allow him inside his head again, but he knew it wouldn't happen at this moment, so he contended himself from watching over them for now.

Julian wasn't able to make one step before his knees gave in again, and already seeing the ground coming closer, he let out a surprised yelp, but the impact never came as hands reached under his shoulders and knees, and he was swung up into strong arms. Blinking through his sudden dizziness he found green orbs smiling down at him as his arms still found their way around Logan's neck.

“I've got you.” for another moment they just looked at each other, and Julian would have pulled Logan down for a kiss if Derek hadn't chosen that moment to appear at the blond's shoulder.

“Let's get out of here, guys.” and he gently pushed Logan to start walking, away from the fire, back to their family and friends.

\----

Austin was wringing his hands, eyes snapping up to stare up at the collapsing train station now and then, only to fall back down again whenever Riley pulled out another glass shard. Marcus wasn't any help in keeping his nerves calm as he continued to walk back and forth between their cars, Stuarts and Lancaster boys surrounding them like a protecting wall.

Ever lurking behind his back, Austin could feel that his father grew restless as well, but if it was out of concern for Logan's life or other reasons, he couldn't tell, John had always lived his own agendas.

“He's gonna be fine.” Riley's voice shook him out of his thoughts, “They're all gonna be okay.” but when blue eyes looked over to the silver king, he was looking to a frantic Marcus.

“How can you tell?” Austin wanted to know and Riley smiled, reaching for a bandage from the first aid kit to wrap Austin's foot up.

“Do you truly think a fire will be able to stop your brother after George is finally killed?” Riley answered him in his familiar calm voice, Austin couldn't help but wonder how his patience always ruled him so much, how he managed to control the power and the anger lurking inside of him, so he only nodded in understanding and then quickly looked up as Marcus froze.

Riley helped him to his feet when Austin pushed John's half heartened attempts away, and then he saw them as well.

Rising like a phoenix out of the ashes, Derek and Logan had turned the corner of the still crashing and burning building and were then walking with their heads held high towards them, and in Logan's arms, Julian had leaned his head against the taller boy's shoulder.

But they looked okay. They were alive. They were okay.

\----

“Go back to Stuart and rally them all up. Write down every name of those who can't be found, but if my suspicions are correct then you will only find one person missing.” most of the boys weren't pretending to listen while Logan gave his orders to Lawrence, getting Julian comfortable on the backseat of Derek's car.

“Am I supposed to find someone specific missing?” Lawrence asked his battered king in clear hesitation, but Logan didn't round on him, just sighed and closed the door of Derek's car carefully, throwing one look over to where John had pulled Austin to the side.

“It'll be better if you keep an open mind for this, Lawrence. If I end up being wrong...” it came so fast out of the other boy's mouth that Derek and Marcus looked up towards them, the grey eyed boy leaning heavily on Derek by then, one hand resting on his chest.

“You are never wrong.” feeling the knife stab inside his chest, Logan looked down at the utterly exhausted and crushed boy down in the car beside him, and he sighed, turning around again to face Lawrence with the weakness he felt in his bones now, there would come a time for grand speeches, but this was not the right moment.

“I could be wrong, and I don't want to throw even more paranoia and distrust among you than I already have. Go home and find out who is missing, because someone will be missing.” Lawrence nodded and when Logan didn't say another word, he waved Nick and Thad closer and together they walked off.

“Lo...”

“Not now, D.” the blond stopped Derek's question that would surely demand to know about his suspicions but green eyes had caught sight of equal ones hardening in an older face, “Stay with Julian. I need to know what's going on there.” and he nudged his head over to his brother who had backed their father up against a wall.

\---

“So what will it be? Your blood, or him?” was the first thing Logan heard when he came into earshot and he narrowed his eyes immediately, his father still had the same old lack of proper timing, not that he hadn't waited for the question to come. He had known right from the first second of laying eyes on his not so dead father that he had come to take Austin away, because he suddenly had found the need for an heir again, and he knew that he had lost Logan. A king couldn't become a pawn again, once you tasted the power, it was hard to push it away again, but he also knew that his father just wasn't able to realize that Austin had felt it now as well.

The quiet boy he had send away was gone, replaced by the boy he had always been inside his heart, repressed by a father who had only ever had eyes for the son who had never wanted to follow him. Stuart's king knew that he wouldn't lose his brother, he had seen the look in blue eyes, Austin would stay with him, and now it seemed it was time for John to notice it as well.

“It's not a choice. Not for me. It will always be him.” Austin was quick to snap back against his father, hands still pressing John against the concrete wall. He tensed for a moment when Logan laid a hand on his shoulder and gently started to tug him back, but then he breathed in and relaxed, letting him pull him back to his side. John huffed and straightened his coat again, dusting off invisible dirt.

“What's going on?” Logan wanted to know in a quiet tone and Austin replied before John could have said anything more, there was nothing to mend between father and oldest son anymore, ties were broken, Logan had given up, he had his own family now. John wasn't his blood anymore, he was only a distant nightmare from his past.

“It's nothing, Logan. He just asked about New York, and didn't like my answer.” Logan glared with angry green eyes at John, who crossed his arms over his chest and raised his nose even higher into the air, “Go. Leave. We don't need you, especially not here.” Austin snapped at his open display of still well-known arrogance, Logan stroked a hand over his brother's arm to soothe him, their nerves were all pushed to the breaking point, John had poked a nest of wasps, and the stings would bite now.

“You've got your hands neatly wrapped around his strings, I see it now. He's the all loyal little brother now.” Austin snapped for air in outrage but Logan gestured for him to be silent, instead he turned to face John properly and used his words well despite how much he wanted to snarl in rage, but he was tired, and all he could think of was the completely exhausted boy on the backseat of his car who needed rest and a bed.

“You know what I always wanted? The only thing I ever wanted from you? It was for you to look at us and see us for who we really are. Your sons.” it came out a little more heated and furious than Logan had intended it to sound like, knowing that his father would pull his claws into every sign of emotional weakness, Logan breathed for a second and calmed his voice, “Not some pawns on the chessboard, not some puppets on strings. For months and years I hoped and never stopped believing that one day you might change. That one day I could call you father again, because you would look at me and see your son instead of your heir. But it never happened. And I gave up. On you. On myself. On us.”

John winced, it was barely visible, but it was there, Logan took it with glee, “And it hurt, but not because of my own pain, not because of the realization that from now on I didn't have a single parent anymore. It hurt because of him.” and Logan nudged his chin towards his brother, “It hurt because you had not only pushed me away, you left Austin behind as well. And I couldn't let my baby brother lose the only family he had left, so I didn't leave. Instead I stayed and let myself be shipped off to this godforsaken school.” that had in the end become his refuge and his sanctuary, his flight away from his father's clutches, “I don't have any hands on Austin's strings. He makes his own decisions, and sometimes I agree with them, sometimes they make me want to lock him up, but he is his own man. I let him live the life he wants to lead.” John gritted his teeth with so much strength that the vein on his forehead started to show.

“Did you ever love us?” Austin demanded to know when Logan was still heavily breathing after his speech, locked in a stare down with his father, but both men winced when the boy's words reached their ears, and John quickly avoided looking at either one of his sons.

“Yes, I did. Once, a lifetime ago, when things were that simple.” was John's cold reply after a moment of silence that has lasted just that split second too long to let his words sounds sincere, Logan braced himself to defend his brother.

“Things have never been simple.” he gritted out between his teeth and ignored the annoyed huff his father let out, Austin staid unmoving, but opened his mouth to speak.

“If you loved us once, there might still be a tiny part of your heart left that still cares for us, and it's that part that will understand in some weeks, maybe months, why we couldn't go.” it was the diplomatic ways that had been drilled into his head by Derek most of all, and Logan couldn't have been more proud, proud of him standing up against his father, proud of him to face his fears, proud of him to choose him instead of John.

“So your answer is no?” Logan and Austin weren't stupid, they both knew the question had never been meant for Logan, it had always been the younger brother John had wanted to get back into his deck of aces.

“I won't be coming with you.” was Austin's clear reply and just for a short second, John looked disappointed and crushed almost, as though he had truly expected Austin to jump into his car with no look back, but John wasn't done yet, Logan almost groaned in annoyance again, “You lost more here than in New York, why stick to a place full of bad memories.”

“I'd rather mourn my losses here for the rest of my life than go back to a place where I have to fear for my life every single second of my day. My family is here, Dad, these people care about me, and I care about them, and no matter how much I lost here, I can't leave them alone. Not now, not ever.” and Austin threw a quick look back to the others, where Derek's hazel eyes were still fixed upon them, “Dalton will soon be ours, Dad, it's only a small stretch of the hand away for us.” Logan shifted a little so that his father wouldn't be able to see his face and raised an eyebrow at his brother for his choice of words, he was convinced of a victory, but small stretch of the hand away, he wouldn't even have used those words if he had needed to sell the rebellion to an arms dealer, but Austin ignored him completely.

Keeping his stoic face focused on John's equally emotionless features, Austin continued, “It's basically ours already, and then Westerville will fall as well. For us.” Logan almost choked on his own breath and he started glaring at his brother, stop while you're ahead until he realizes you are lying, little brother, “But New York is leagues away from you. You will have to start your war in the low alley ways, and then fight your way to the top. It could take years until you got at least Manhattan under your control. I'm not leaving behind my kingdom...” Logan cleared his throat, but was ignored again, “...to start as a beggar's child. I'm a prince here, Dad.” Austin declared and spared his brother a quick side glare, Logan smirked back, “I would be a nobody in New York.”

“You're a Wright. Wrights are never nobodies in our hometown.” John spoke up again with his ever blind pride and both, Logan and Austin laughed out loud, the older one turning around again to look at his father.

“The Wrights left New York and it forgot. Legacies are not so great and powerful when there is no one left to carry them on.” Logan provided a response and green eyes narrowed themselves at him again.

“Go back to New York, Dad. Get it back for yourself, but don't expect us to be of any help. You know where we are, and if you care for us even a little, you can work out a way to stay in touch.” Austin said and stepped closer to his brother again, letting Logan push one arm around his shoulders.

John looked to his oldest soon, but the blond boy only shrugged his shoulders, he didn't have anything more to say.

“I hope the two of you will come out of this rebellion alive and well. Be a better leader than I have been, Logan. And keep your brother safe.” hiding the little amount of surprise he felt as his father's words, Logan nodded, “Don't forget who you are, Austin.” was the only last advice John had for his younger son, who only stared back at him.

“Don't worry, John. I will never forget whose brother I am.” and with the last seething words of the smaller blond, John whisked around and walked by to his car with long strides.

Logan watched the black car race away from the now destroyed train station and only when he couldn't see it anymore did he relax the tension in his muscles, and immediately regretted it when his back protested with so much pain that he had to catch himself with his hands against the wall. Gasping out in shock over the pain almost, Logan closed his eyes and started to breathe through it, pulling up the old tricks he had learned since he had been able to sit up on his own.

He felt Austin's presence at his shoulder, and despite the open worry that his brother portrayed, it was soothing to Stuart's king, it gave him something to focus on, because nothing inside of him was stronger than the need to protect, especially when it came to his little brother.

“I'm fine.” he already croaked out before he was even able to open his eyes again, Austin snorted at his side, “it’s okay, Aus. It'll be over in a minute.” he promised and when he then opened green eyes, he found disbelieving and doubting blue ones looking back at him.

“I'm fine.” he repeated his words, and straightened up again, locking the pain of bruises and strained muscles into the far back of his mind, he could swallow a Tylenol when he got home, he couldn't show weakness, not the physical kind, not as long as he wasn't in his own four walls. Not until he was alone.

Raising his head again, Logan stepped away from the wall, exhaustion draining from his face and being replaced with the emotionless leader face, he nudged Austin to walk back to the others, and there was time to talk on another day.

All he wanted now was sleep.

\---

They had barely taken a step out of their cars when Riley suddenly went rigid next to Logan, and while green eyes still slowly raised themselves, Lancaster's king was already taking off, shaking off the exhaustion, the tall boy was running over the pebbled courtyard with long legs and quick feet.

And by the time Logan had finally found the source of Riley's sudden lack of calmness, his silver and grey counterpart had already pulled the brunet boy into his arms and had sunk to his knees right along with him.

"Ace.” Logan breathed out in utter surprise and as the door of the house opened, his brother was the first who rushed out behind him, completely oblivious to the pain in his left foot as he rushed past king and captain reunited to sweep the girl with the brown locks off her feet, and the blond king's lips pulled into a smile as Julie shrieked in delight and curled her arms around the prince's neck.

And Logan chuckled even when he got shoved heavily to the side, falling against his car's door as another brunet appeared in the courtyard and Marcus and Derek both pushed themselves through the group of Stuart and Lancasters. They caught Franzi between them, arms wrapping her into an embrace from both sides, faces burying themselves in her shorter brown hair. And Logan looked down at Julian, whose tired eyes followed the spectacle with an exhausted joy, and his lips even formed a small smile when he became aware of green eyes watching him.

The blond king opened the door to the backseat of his car as one more brunet stepped into the courtyard in front of the Lancaster's home, the former mansion of the Paige's, but this former Snake he had seen more than once before his capture. Danielle Paige kept her face friendly and gentle, just like they all knew her, and as he helped Julian from the car, Logan suddenly realised that someone was still missing.

Three out of four. Ace plus two Snakes, but the little spitfire was missing.

Slowly walking towards the house with Julian, he caught brown eyes as the girl leaned back from the embrace of her two lovers, and Franzi glared right into his green ones. He had never seen her so pissed off at him, and right there he knew that no matter what everyone else was thinking, Franzi was blaming him for everything, and he almost felt sick when his mind tried to imagine what had happened to her little sister.

Riley was slowly getting to his feet again, pulling his captain along by the time Logan reached Danielle in the doorway, and sharp and alert as she always was, she answered his question before he could have even made it up.

"Ali lives, but it doesn't look too good right now. The bullet wound caused more damage in her than in the other two, it got infected again and again over the last couple of weeks.” Logan swallowed but tried to hide how much this was truly eating him up, "Come, Colby called ahead, we're all ready to check you all over.” smiling at both of them, the brunet woman led them into the house.

\---

Leaving Julian in Danielle's capable hands, assured that he was okay for the moment, he made sure to pull apart the two teenage lovebirds so that someone could properly bandage his brother's foot, and only when Austin was complaining about the itch the bandages left on his skin and Logan was positively grossed out by the affections and sweet nothings his brother exchanged with the girl glued to his side, only then did they return into the biggest room of the medical wing.

Logan offered her a weak smile, when he stepped into the room with the dimmed light, and Franzi smiled right back at him when she walked closer to him, and in the next second, the sound of skin hitting skin echoed around the room and Logan's head whipped to the side.

"Son of a bitch.” Franzi seethed through gritted teeth and only slowly lowered her hand again, while Logan raised his right one to carefully touch the side of his face where she had slapped him.

"You're not wrong there.” Austin chuckled as he passed by him, hiding his grin by turning his face away from glaring green eyes, but the seething girl in front of Logan couldn’t have cared less whether or not her accusations were correct.

Raising her hand for a second hit, Franzi growled when Derek grabbed her wrist and held her back, so with no physical abilities to express her anger, she lashed out with her mouth, Logan remained unmoving in front of her, green eyes calmly looking down at her.

"Fight!” the Snake's leader spit out at him, "Why don't you fight back, you jerk!” she yelled and almost everyone in the room turned to look at them. Austin looked up from where he was sitting on the couch next to Julie, hands tightly clasped together, Marcus looked up from where Danielle was checking on his wounds, the Queen's own eyes looking concerned at them.

With Riley and an unknown Lancaster boy at his sides, Julian's eyes were focused on Logan's slowly breaking facade, it was impossible for anyone else but Derek and him to see, but the guilt was written into every single one of Logan's features. He knew he had given the order to shoot, he knew that they were in this position only because of him, he knew that only a miracle had saved the girls and Ace, and not anything they could have done.

"Fight back! Show me that even still deserve to be looked at! Show me one reason why I shouldn't kill you on the spot for what you did to us! Skin you alive for what you did to my sister!” throwing herself forward in Derek's arms, Franzi tried to come at Logan again, brown eyes blazing with fire, on the bed not far from them, Julian was already sitting up again, not able to keep back any longer when Logan was in so much obvious pain, but Riley pushed him back down, there was no point in making this all worse when he would fall and injure himself even more now.

Derek tried to soothe his girlfriend, but nothing he said reached her anymore, Franzi was too far gone in the anger and the blind worried panic about her little sister, and god, couldn't Logan understand, didn't he know that he deserved all of it, deserved every scream, every ounce of blame, every single punch she was able to give him. He was too tired. He couldn't fight anymore.

In another fit of her rage, the brunet girl knocked Derek in his chest with her elbow, resulting in him stumbling away from him, one arm curled over his ribs, Julian froze and Riley tensed up.

"I gave my hair in order for us to survive! I gave my blood! I gave him everything he wanted if it meant keeping us safe, keeping us alive! I killed men to keep them away from my sister and Julie! I can still see their eyes in my dreams! I can still hear our screams, every single night!” she continued to yell even as her voice cracked and even when Logan's hands started shaking at his side, slowly she came closer to him again.

"Say something!” she demanded of him, but Logan could only stare, his pulse ringing in his ears, his lungs screaming for air he couldn't breathe in, "Say something, Logan. Say something to your defence, show me that you are not a monster like him.” and while her voice still snarled the words, the body of a boy moved in between them and Franzi staggered back in the next second as the slap of Austin's hand to her face sent her flying.

"Get. Away. From. Him.” Austin gritted out between his teeth, his entire face contorted in the black fury racing through his veins, both his hands were balled into fists as he towered over Franzi, who stared up at him in shock, "And don't say another word. You know nothing of what happened. Nothing!” and something broke in Stuart's prince as he took another threatening step towards the smaller girl, "You know nothing about what he sacrificed for us to be here now. What he went through to make sure that we could all live in relative safety, the pain he took for himself to make sure that none of us got hurt."

And when he took another step, Derek mirrored Austin on Franzi's other side, hazel eyes worried for both of their sanities, and in an even more shocking movement, Franzi went to her knees under the force of the prince's furious glare alone. Blue eyes had darkened to a dangerous fire that the tough girl had never before seen in him, that almost no person in the room had seen until then, "Don't think you know anything about him. Or why he chose to do what he did. He gave the orders, but that still doesn't mean that he is to blame.” his voice had dropped into a dangerous low baritone that set the hair on all of their necks on edge, "Be angry at me, and be angry at Derek. We took the shots, thinking we were saving you. All of you. Be angry at them for pulling this trick on us, but don't ever for a second dare and put the blame on Logan, because frankly, he does that on his own quite well enough.” he was screaming in the end, glaring down at Franzi with murderous eyes, the room had turned deadly silence around them and no one had realized how Logan had slipped from the room.

Austin took a deep breath to start anew when a small hand gently uncurled his fist and intertwined their fingers and then Julie was pushing herself between him and the still kneeling Franzi, reaching up with her left hand she cupped his jaw and turned his face until he was looking down at her. And within seconds and without saying a single word, Julie had him calmed down again, and with a soft smile on her face, she pulled him back to the couch.

Still grimacing when he straightened up, Derek reached out a hand to his girlfriend and pulled her to her feet when Franzi hesitantly grabbed his offered hand, but he didn't pull her closer, instead raised his eyes and looked around to try and mend this tension a little, but when he couldn't find a sign of blond hair and green eyes anywhere inside the grand room, he tensed up and his heart almost leaped out of his chest.

"Where is he? Where is Logan?” Riley had to physically restrain Julian from standing up again, when Derek's words rang out in the room, on the couch Austin dropped his face into his hands.

"Probably licking his wounds, he is a big boy, Derek, he can take care of himself."

"He can't.” Derek yelled and in an act of frustration, he pushed both hands through his hair, "He can't take care of himself, when will you all finally understand this. Franzi, he could have died today. He very nearly almost did. And now he is gone, off blaming himself for things that have never been his to feel guilty about. None of this was ever our fault, we were played. Like puppets on a string, and Logan had the most attached to his mind.” he dragged a hand down his face and moved away from the brunet girl as she tried to reach for him, "Just, urgh. I need to find him.” and he stormed from the room without sending another look to Franzi.

"I think you should go to Ali, Franzi.” Danielle was the only one who dared to break the silence that lasted in the room after Derek had gone, Julian and Riley silently glaring each other down. Marcus threw a quick look to an exhausted Austin in Julie's arms before he set his eyes on brown ones, giving her little of the warmth she could have needed, and Franzi realized how much her anger had messed up.

\---

An hour later, Derek found him sitting on the cold ground on the backside of Lancaster House, knees drawn to his chest, his face dropped upon them, hidden from view entirely behind the ivy hedge. He hadn't chose to lean back against it, or even sitting down upon the bench, instead he must have sat down right where his steps had stopped, in the middle of the little clearing.

Stuart's second in command would have even walked by him if the setting sun hadn't caught onto striking blond hair among the green leaves of ivy and grass, and for a moment he had no idea on how to approach him. He had lots of experiences with an angry and out of control Logan, with an obsessed and paranoid Logan, but a hurt and crushed Logan, an overwhelmed and hysterical Logan, that had only ever happened once and Derek had not been alone then.

Back then in the blond boy's room, one hour after the boys had proclaimed him king.

It was a different situation now, but Logan looked almost as broken now, and Derek sighed, dragging both hands over his face before he stepped around the bench and quietly sat down next to Logan, cross-legged, one hand gently reaching out to squeeze Logan's shoulder once.

"Franzi is worried sick about Ali, she didn't mean those things.” Hazel eyes remained fixed on Logan, noticing how his knuckles had turned white with the strength he was using to hold himself together, "You are not alone, Logan."

"I know.” Logan whispered in response and his voice was hoarse, but Derek couldn't tell if it was because of his tiredness or if he had cried, he still couldn't see his face, "I know I'm not alone, not here, not at home. I know I've got you. I have Julian, more than just in my heart. But inside my head... Inside my head I'm all alone, and sometimes I can't find the way out anymore.” for a moment Derek was shocked over Logan's honest words, it had been a long, long time since the blond had let him see what was going on in his mind, this privilege had only belonged to Julian in the last years.

"You know that you aren't to blame for what happened, right? Josh was playing you, just like George did. And we were betrayed so many times, Lo. None of what happened in the last weeks is your fault.” Logan snorted, "The girls aren't dead, Lo, no one died because of you. You always came in time and saved us."

"I was too late for Casey. I'm to blame for her death.” as much as Derek would have loved to deny it, to downright tell Logan that it wasn't true, that it was an accident, he couldn't. He couldn't do it, because he knew it wasn't right. Casey had died because of Logan.

\---

Flashback

\---

"Get down!” Logan bellowed, sprinting forward and pushing Nick and Austin down onto the street behind the car, Marcus hot on his heels and ducking just in time to dodge the round of bullets flying their way. The rain had barely stopped when Logan and Marcus already pushed themselves to their knees again and started firing back over the hood of the car.

"Get Austin out of here!” Logan yelled over the blaring noise of the alarm system of the old townhouse and completely ignored the way his brother's blue eyes narrowed at him.

"But...” twelve year old Austin piped up from where he was still pressed to the ground by his guard, but Logan completely ignored him, fixing Nick with a heating glare that said enough about having went against his orders by bringing his little brother into the city during an open trader's rebellion.

"No buts, get him out of here and get back up! That's an order!” Nick nodded and pulled Austin to his feet, running towards their second car while their leader and Marcus still had their backs. The sound of tired squeaking and an engine roaring was like music in Logan’s ear in the next moment as they had to duck again against the onslaught of new bullets.

"They are wasting our entire new load of ammunition.” he growled and peered over the hood of the car, trying to find brunet hair anywhere.

"They've never been this organized.” Marcus pointed out and shot another round of bullets towards the group of men clad in brown patched jackets, Logan nodded at his side, "Can you see Derek or Julian anywhere?” they had been on their way to receive new weapons when Derek had sent them a frantic message asking for back up when they had basically been overrun by bandits and traders at their depot store. Logan pointed to the roof of the little warehouse where the tip of a black gun was clearly visible to eyes who knew what to look for.

The situation had clearly been cleared up when Derek and Cyrus had appeared from around the hillside, and with the little back up from Logan and Marcus they had quickly managed to push the invading men back, until the black haired girl with locks flying in the wind had appeared on the podium of a nearby store and Derek had been the first one to throw his gun down when he had caught sight of the dark haired girl Tess had at knife point in front of her.

Logan had quickly gestured for them to stay, having been crouching behind a car after a bullet had grazed his left foot, the newly named Queen of Roses hadn't seen him until then, and they had thought themselves at an advantage, a well thought out plan in their king's head was the only thing keeping them from acting on pure rage alone. It had only been a couple of days since the traitorous girl had sold her sisters to the human traffickers.

They had thought Casey to have been lost as well. And now she was standing right there in front of them again, bruises from head to toe, only wearing a pair of shorts and a torn shirt, right eye black and swollen shut, a bleeding cut over her left eye. Beaten up, but alive.

Moving quietly but quickly between the containers and cars, Logan had edged closer to both girls while Tess and Derek had snapped back and forth with their silly arguments, sounding almost like an old lover's quarrel. It could have been easy, but then another shot rang out from behind Derek's back, Marcus and Cyrus both jumped to push their friend to the ground, Julian crashed through the warehouse ceiling and in the resulting chaos Logan jumped for Casey instead of staying patient for a moment longer.

Tess saw him just that short moment too soon, sliding the knife across Casey's throat and pushed her over the banister to fall down the ten feet high podium, before she bolted. Logan's brain didn't even register her running, all he could think of was to catch his best friend's girlfriend, and he managed it within a heartbeat.

Sinking to the ground with her cradled in his arms, he felt his heart stop as he heard her gurgled breaths and felt the blood flowing over his hands and arms, and when he looked down it took him a moment to see her face behind all the blood, but Casey was still looking at him. Around them, more gunshots rang out as she reached for his hand, and weakly held onto it, while Logan stroked a wet strand of hair away from her former beautiful face.

"I'm sorry.” he choked out as the panic and the guilt crashed over him, why haven't you been able to wait more, just a second longer until she was so drawn into the chaos, just a moment, just a short moment, but no, you let your body act instead of your head. Again. Rosy lips covered in blood smiled up at him as Casey raised her left hand to cup his face, still giving comfort when he obviously didn't deserve it.

"It's okay, Logan.” the brunet girl whispered, coughing up blood, "Don't... don't blame yourself. Promise me...” and he had to lean down to hear her, "Promise me to keep him safe. Promise me...” and he didn't have to ask who she meant, it was just too clear as footsteps thundered closer to them.

"I promise.” he hurried to say when she convulsed in his arms and then went still, the life in brown eyes vanishing just like the heartbeat in her chest, Logan hung his head and it was in that moment that the backup planes and secret schemes started to appear in his head, always one step ahead of everyone to make sure that he would never lose someone of his family again.

Not on my watch. Not while I can do something to prevent them from being hurt.

In the next second Derek stumbled up the podium and started screaming upon seeing them.

\---

Flashback End

\---

"I always thought that when all of this is over, I will just go. Take Jules and leave this all behind, letting Austin take over, just to get away from the guilt and the pain.” Logan spoke again in that quiet voice of his, successfully shaking Derek out of his nightmarish memories, "Maybe go to Paris. I know Julian wants to see it again, but now George is dead for good and the only thing I can think of is that I can't go. I could never leave any of this behind again, no matter how much it is choking me.” he dragged his hand over his face once more and Derek's heart was screaming at him to do something, to say something, but his lips were sealed shut and his limbs were as heavy as steel.

Truth was, he had blamed Logan for weeks after Casey's death, had screamed at him for hours, but time had passed and he saw things in a different light now, especially with everything they had learned after his beautiful first love had died. Casey had been so badly hurt that she would have suffered a way more horrible fate in the following hours than the cut throat she had died from, it hadn't been easy to accept it, but at some point in the last one and a half years it had happened.

And nothing Logan had done since then had ever felt as bad, no matter how many times he had come to fucking something up, and no one beside Derek had ever openly blamed him for any of his actions, no one until Franzi now. And the guilt inside of his best friend was so immense and intense now that Derek could feel it, could feel the darkness upon him, could feel it reaching out for him, and he wondered just how long Logan had been carrying it around.

It was suffocating, truly and madly suffocating. To have to think every day about the people you have failed, about the lives that had been lost because of you.

"And the worst part.” Logan continued after a small pause, he had never looked as exhausted and tired as now, Derek noticed, "The worst part is knowing that in holding back to not screw up another one's life, I failed my own brother.” there Derek finally found his strength again and reached out a hand to physically stop Logan from falling further into his guilt trip.

"Stop it.” he spoke out, voice soft and gentle, even though Logan avoided to look at him, "You know that's not right. We both know that. True, Austin changed in the last two weeks, but not for the worse, he finally grew into the boy that was always inside of him.” Logan huffed, probably more due to parental note in Derek's words that freaked him out himself.

"He butchered the Lord Commander, D. I'm not saying this jerk didn't deserve it, but Austin's actions don't really speak for maturity. And how could it, he is fourteen, he is not ready to lead.” patting Logan's knee, Derek looked back up at the sky, green eyes glanced at him.

"Austin is turning fifteen in a few weeks, and you were sixteen when we started plotting against George, there isn't that big a difference, but you do have a point.” Derek nodded and pulled his hand back again.

"Austin is not ready. He is good, but he is not ready. If the last two weeks have taught me anything, then that. He lost control and he needs you now to reign it in again. Be strong for him now if you can't be strong for yourself. He needs you. Now more than ever before. You haven't failed him, you helped him grow, and he still needs your guidance.” and when Derek hesitated for a moment, green eyes found his hazel ones, and he knew what he had to say immediately, the longing in Logan's eyes was clear, the longing to have his friend back instead of just having an advisor around, "Just don't give up. We all need you, the worst is yet to come. We're on the edge of a storm, and we can't win this without you. I can't win this without you.” Logan looked away again for a moment, silent and quiet again, but Derek knew his words had been heard and understood.

The sound of footsteps approaching them from the direction of the house stopped their conversation and both of them looked up to see the blond boy stopping at the edge of the hedge, blue eyes carefully flickering over both their faces. Logan curled his lips into a little smile, and Derek instantly knew that he was back, maybe not alright, but back.

"Riley is looking for you. Both of you.” Austin spoke up and took another step towards them, it was obvious that he was only holding himself together with Wright stubbornness, his hands were nestled into the fabric of his jacket, probably to keep the trembling from showing.

"Can you give us a moment, D?” Logan asked with an almost demanding look out of green eyes, and Derek was more than okay with leaving them alone for a moment, Austin would only let his brother inside anyway, there was no sense in sticking around. For a moment still though, he looked into green eyes and tried to find the fire, and it took him a moment, but Logan held his gaze, and the message in it was clear as the sky above them.

I'll be okay. You took me away from the edge. It's gonna be alright.

"Yeah, I'll go ahead. See if Franzi has calmed down by now.” getting to his feet, he gently brushed by Austin on his way, the blond prince caught his arm and stopped him.

"I'm sorry. I... I didn't want to hit her.” Derek reached up and squeezed Austin's shoulder, his other hand ruffling through blond hair.

"I know. And she knows that, too. It's gonna be okay, Aus.” patting the younger boy's back twice, Derek nodded to Logan and then turned around and walked away, taking the small path that would lead him back to the house. Logan waited some seconds until he patted the spot next to him on the ground that Derek had only just vacated, ducking his head he looked at his brother, who kept his eyes glued to his feet.

"Come on.” and he whisked his head to the left, "Sit down. Now is not the time for big talks, but I think we two could use a moment alone.” Austin moved carefully and Logan's sharp eyes noted with another jolt of guilt that his brother was keeping weight off his left foot, especially when he sat down, and it took all he had left of his willpower to keep himself from jumping up and helping him.

And then, it was quiet between them for a moment, the older one looking at the younger brother, and the smaller boy staring at his tightly clasped together hands as they sat on the grass behind Lancaster House, knees drawn to their chests, the orange sunlight colouring their hair golden, but when Austin went ahead and started to talk, it was with a voice heavy with held back tears.

"I lost control.” it shot from his lips with an intensity that surprised him, because for a moment he was silent again, but then it bubbled from him in one go.

"I could feel it crawling inside of me, I could feel it taking over and there was nothing I was able to do to stop it, and then.... it felt good, Logan, it felt so empowering and now I have no idea on how to cage it in again.” his voice broke and Logan whirled around onto his knees, hands reaching out to pull his brother's chin up, blue eyes were filled with tears threatening to fall, "And you weren't there. You weren't there to help me, and I'm angry. I'm angry because you promised to always be there and in the one moment I needed you the most, you weren't there.” the dam broke and the tears rolled down his brother's face and Logan knew that he had made more mistakes then he had previously thought, his plans had forced Austin to lose control.

Without hesitating or giving any more thoughts to how much he had fucked all of their lives up even more, Logan pulled Austin into his arms, pulling him against his chest as his baby brother started to cry. Leaning his head upon Austin's own blond mop of hair, Logan smiled despite everything, "You are afraid that you won't be able to switch it off again, that it will take over any moment again, but I'm here now. I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere, never again until I am sure that you are ready. I'm sorry for what I did, Aus, I shouldn't have pulled you into this as much as I did.” he could always feel it as the tension drained from his brother's body, "I'm here now, and I will help you.” his fingers found smaller ones and he squeezed tight, "Now, come on, the last thing we both need now is to catch a cold."

Austin chuckled through his last tears and let Logan help him to his feet, and then let himself be hugged by his brother for another short moment, with Logan leaning down to whisper in his ear.

"We will talk after we got some rest. I swear to you, Austin.” and there he pushed him away slightly so their eyes could meet, and with the voice that spoke only of the confidence only Stuart's true king could have, Logan gave him a promise that he would hold until he died, "I swear to you that I will never let us end up like father. We will never become him."

And despite the exhaustion, despite the emotions running wild inside of him, Austin still felt it, still felt the warmth seeking into his skin again. He had his brother back, it would be okay again.

\---

A few minutes later, Logan had sent Austin and Julie to stay with Julian and Marcus while they continued to check them over, still refusing to have someone look at him himself, and he had asked one of Riley's guards to let him to their king. He found him, Danielle and Derek in a room at the other end of the medical wing, in a silent and sterile room with only one bed inside, where a brunet girl was lying motionless on the crisp white bed.

Ali's eyes were closed, her skin pale, her chest rising with steady breaths, but her mouth was still covered by the oxygen mask, and Logan swallowed hard, barely able to look at her or the two people on either side of her on his way over to the window. Franzi was keeping vigil over every single one of her sister's breaths, hands gently stroking over a smaller one, and on Ali's other side, Ace was silently sitting on a chair as well, head dropped down, hair covering his face.

"She needs a hospital, a real hospital.” Riley spoke up as the silence in the room lasted too long, pushing himself away from the wall he walked over to stop behind Danielle, pushing both arms around her and drawing back against his chest, he looked over to Franzi, whose eyes didn't waver from her sister's sleeping looking face, "She needs help, help I cannot give her here. If the wounds get infected again, there is nothing I can do for her.” he continued, not stopping even as the brown haired girl flinched.

Next to her, sitting on another chair, Derek dragged both hands over his face, brown eyes only briefly flickering over to the blond king at the other side of the room, arms crossed over his chest, Logan was staring out over the forest.

"We can't, we cannot bring her into the hospital. We are fair game, Riley, unclaimed property.” Franzi argued, finally looking away from Ali to glare at Lancaster's king who calmly looked back at her, but his arms still tightened around his girlfriend, Danielle's dark brown eyes had switched over to Logan, "You know what happens to unclaimed girls and women when they are released from the hospital."

Riley, Derek and Logan all tensed without sharing a look, it was the only sign that Logan gave that he was actually listening to them, he had been silent for over half an hour.

"They get sold and usually not even to the fair Traders.” Derek spoke out what all of them had been thinking about, they knew the stories, most of them from Franzi herself who had lost six girls like this in the last year alone.

Even if the hospital stood strictly under Lancaster control, they had never been able to keep the staff from selling their female patients to the Traders, they didn't have the number of boys able to defend a kingdom and a hospital.

"We have to think of something.” Riley showed his slight desperation, looking to Ace who was sitting on Ali's other side, face hidden behind his hands, "She is not out of critical condition at all, she can fall back any time. If she slips, I can't do anything, I don't have the machines. You did everything you were able to do for her these past weeks, but all this stress inside her head, it is making it worse.” Riley decided to be brutally honest and even though Franzi and Ace winced, she nodded, leaning against Derek as his arm came to rest around her waist, Ace remained motionless, no one but Danielle saw how Logan slowly turned around.

Green eyes found her brown ones and she started smiling in relief for her former "sisters" as she saw the intention behind them.

"I'm claiming them.” his voice rang out over the silence, Derek was the first aside from Danielle to really hear his words and he whirled away from his girlfriend to stare at his friend and king, green eyes found his, showing him the determination behind them, "I'm claiming them as Stuart’s, right here, right now.” Franzi froze on the edge of Ali's bed, her eyes staring at her hands holding onto her sister's smaller one.

Riley was the only one who dared to speak, "Are you sure?” but his words were met with a short nod as Logan pushed himself away from the wall and walked over to them, Derek couldn't stop staring at him.

"They are standing under Stuart's, under my official responsibility from now on, and everyone who dares to hurt them, take them, will face my wrath.” he stopped behind Franzi and a strong hand came to rest upon her shoulder.

"You never showed any sign you cared.” her small whisper seemed to echo around the room, but Logan only squeezed her shoulder tighter.

"I tried to protect you by being cold, by pretending to not care, but I do. I should have done this ages ago, I didn't do it with Casey and it got her killed. I'm not making that mistake again. Get her into a hospital, check her in as Ali Stuart, no one will think about taking her."

He went to move away, but Franzi shook herself from her frozen state and turned around, catching his hand as he already turned away, and she looked up at him, relieved and happy, at peace with her mind for once.

"Thank you, Logan.” she smiled at him and he nodded, his face still set in that usual pokerface, and as she let him go to fall into Derek's arms, he stepped towards to door.

"Where are you going?” Derek called after him as he already reached for the door handle, features softening, Logan ground his teeth together for a second, feeling his shoulder throb again when the tension drained from his muscles.

"Back to Julian."

"No one has looked you over, yet, Logan. Gimme a moment and...” Riley called out from behind him but Logan shook his head, not daring to look back at them.

"I'm fine, Riley. I don't need anyone to look me over. All I need...” Logan emphasized when Derek opened his mouth to speak, "Is to get home and sleep. With Julian by my side.” Riley and Derek both didn't look convinced or overjoyed by him refusing to get help, but Logan just couldn't do it, couldn't let his guards down in a place that wasn't home. He needed Stuart. He needed his room.

He needed Julian.

Danielle was the only one who spoke up again, Logan still turned towards the door, "He'll be okay, he is exhausted and he has some bruises, but there is nothing more serious anymore. His wrist looked as if it had been broken once, but it healed together in good shape again.” Logan's hand on the handle tightened until his knuckles were white again and his shoulder screamed in protest, but he was glad for her honesty, "He just needs rest now, I guess, he should physically be back to normal in a few days. I'm more worried about..."

"Don't be.” he gruffly cut her off, "Don't be. He won't be alone, he'll be okay.” she was silent for a moment in respect to his words, but he meant what he had said, Julian wouldn't be alone, not until Logan was sure that these months hadn't broken something inside of him.

"Austin needs to rest his foot for a few days.” he nodded, "And Marcus could use an x-ray, I can't be sure if his ribs are only bruised or broken.” and when she had finished, Logan left the room without saying another word, closing the door behind himself and walking around a corner until he leaned his head against the closest wall.

Breathing in and out two times he felt some kind of relief fall over him. He is dead. He is truly dead and the others will be okay. It's over, Logan. It's over, he thought to himself until his heart stopped hammering in his chest.

It was finally over.

\---

They left Marcus behind with Franzi, Ali and the Lancasters, knowing that he needed the hospital check-up himself and that their allied friends would take good care of them. Reaching Stuart House in the dead of the night almost, they parked their cars, and Logan had barely taken a step out of the garage, Derek and him supporting Julian between themselves, when the front door flew open. Lawrence and Nick hurried down the stairs, and Austin came to stand by them with Julie by his side.

"You were right, I think.” Lawrence bit out and he looked bitter and disappointed, but Logan immediately knew it wasn't directed at him, but at the boy they had all thought they could trust, always the silent ones, the king's mind provided him with an explanation and Logan grimaced. Next to him Julian and Derek looked at him and Austin shifted nervously.

"Who sold us out, Lawrence?” Derek asked the question that was burning on all their minds, but for a moment Lawrence and Nick only stared at the brunet girl cowering halfway behind Austin, and it wasn't until Julian cleared his throat that their focus snapped back to the more important topic.

"It was Bailey.” the words left Lawrence's mouth in a tone that made it impossible to not hear them, but Derek and Julian, and especially Austin still needed a moment to comprehend them while Logan only briefly closed green eyes. He had known it would be him, known right from the moment they had been caught in the open at the factory. Because no matter how much I did for you, no matter how much I gave you a safe place and a life, no matter how much I trusted you, your loyalty always laid with him.

Always.

"I sent some boys out to look around our grounds.” Nick offered them, and Logan nodded in thanks, but they all knew that Bailey knew their territory better than most in Stuart, if he wanted to disappear, he would be able to do it within the blink of an eye. He was gone, out of their reach forever.

"Call them back, it's no use, he is gone.” Nick nodded and reached for his phone, Logan called on his last energy resources to give out orders, but before he could have opened his mouth, Derek glanced his way and spoke quicker.

"Lawrence, meet me in 20 minutes in my room and we'll figure out a new patrol plan and what to tell the boys.” the boy nodded and Logan sighed in gratitude for his friend taking over, all he wanted was to get Julian up to his room, that bath and sleep for days. By his side, Derek looked at blue orbs, "Austin, why don't you take Julie up to Amanda's room, probably the best for now.” the smaller blond boy nodded and took off with his girl clinging to his side, still throwing cautious glances to Nick and Lawrence.

And it wasn't until a moment of silence fell over them that Derek waved both guards off and turned to his two best friends when they were out of earshot, "Take the backdoor, you'll be able to get to your room without anyone crossing your path, Lo.” Stuart's king nodded, "Get some rest, take your time. I got them.” and Derek nodded to the house, taking back his arm from under Julian's shoulder, "And we'll figure this whole crap with Bailey out tomorrow."

"There isn't much to figure out.” Logan reminded him and Derek grimaced but nodded, they knew the reasons already, there was only one explanation, Julian grumbled a reply under his breath and Logan smiled, pressing a quick kiss to his hair, "We'll move on, we always do."

"And always will.” Derek shot right back and then patted the blond's shoulder one last time before taking off towards the house with their weapons, only looking over his shoulder again when he was some feet away, "And guys?” he waited until both his friends looked up at him, "You know, try and get some actual sleep.” and Derek laughed when both set of eyes glared at him, turning around again, he walked off.

"Why did you suspect it to be Bailey?” Julian breathed against his shoulder as Logan picked him up again, arms falling around the blond's neck when Logan started walking, taking the small path that would lead them to the back door.

"It was a feeling. Only just a feeling, something didn't sit right with him in the days before I got caught.” Logan told him in his quiet voice and then opened the back door with an elbow, "But let's stop talking about it. We're home, let's get clean and sleep."

\---

Julian almost collapsed on the chair in the bathroom that Logan had called his own right from the beginning of his time as Stuart's king, more luxurious than the others in the entire house, the only difference he had allowed himself to have from the other boys. Built from ground to ceiling with white tiles, it was a space of calm and silence for a stressed king, a spacious bathtub was standing under the two windows.

Logan closed the door behind them and stroked a hand through still dirty oak brown hair as he passed Julian on his way to start the water in the bathtub, and it wasn't until his fingers were sure that the water was running hot and steady that he turned around again.

Julian stared at him out of tired sepia eyes and Logan held his gaze when he pulled off his shirt, tossing it into a corner, he wouldn't ever wear it again anyway. Reaching down he took off his shoes and his socks, and then walked barefoot over to Julian again, dropping to his knees in front of him.

"Hey.” he smiled at him and Julian responded with a weak one of his one, using his tired and trembling hands to pull up his shirt while Logan's hands reached for the brunet's belt. The ruined, formerly black, shirt joined Logan's own one in the corner and Julian fell forward to rest his forehead against the blond's.

"I can't believe I'm home.” Logan smiled and slowly stroked his fingers over the exposed skin on Julian's waist and back, the brunet breathed in and out deeply two times.

"You are. Back home. Safe at home with me.” Logan whispered back at him, sat back on his heels and used a finger to raise Julian's chin until he could look into sepia eyes, "You're back home with me."

"With you.” Julian agreed to his words, "And with hot water without bubbles.” he pouted in the next second and Logan threw his head back and laughed, giving himself a moment to shake his head about Julian's priorities, but then got back to his feet and grabbed the bottle with the bath additive and poured almost half of it into the slowly filling bathtub. Julian looked pleased when he turned around with an eyebrow raised in question again.

"Come on.” the blond said then, walking back over to him, waiting in patience with an outstretched hand until Julian had stood up and gotten rid of his boots and socks, but when he was done, he pulled him closer. Carefully, mindful of Julian's tired and utterly exhausted muscles, Logan pulled him flush against his chest and curled his arms around the brunet's waist.

"I'm not letting you go again.” instead of answering his whispered declaration with words of his own, Julian leaned up on his toes and pressed his lips to Logan's. A gentle kiss quickly became more when Julian pressed himself further against Logan and clutched with both hands at the taller boy's shoulders. Logan slipped one hand under the hem of Julian's pants, sliding his fingers over the swell of his butt.

Gasping for breaths, they pulled apart after a moment and stared at each other, until Logan felt the shivers running down Julian's back. Gently pushing him back at little, he went down on one knee in front of his lover and grabbed Julian's pants, pulling them and the brunet's boxer shorts down in one move, letting Julian lean against him so he could pull them entirely off.

"Logan.” Looking up upon Julian's soft call of his name, Logan saw shaking hands reaching down for him, and he quickly jumped back to his feet, pulling Julian against him again.

"Shh.” he soothed him, holding him tight, "I'm here. I'm right here.” he promised and leaned down to kiss him again, he could feel it when the shadows vanished from Julian's mind again because he moved his hands from his elbows and started opening the belt of Logan's pants.

Logan broke their kiss again to take off his pants and boxer shorts himself, the water in the bathtub had reached its maximum by then, and Logan turned it off before their added weight could result in a flooded bathroom. He helped Julian into the water first, making sure the exhausted boy wouldn't slip and hurt himself, and only when the brunet was sitting in the water, knees pulled to his chest, sighing upon the warmth seeping into his skin, only then did Logan dim the lights in the room and join him.

Sitting down behind him and leaning back against the top end of the bathtub, Logan spread his legs and pushed them under the water on either side of Julian, letting the smaller boy fall back to lay against his chest. The ridiculous length and depth of the tub making it possible for their legs to be fully stretched out and still being under water, their bodies fully in the safety and comfort of the warm water, only their heads and Logan's shoulders peeking out into the still warm air of the bathroom.

Julian finally let himself relax, let even the last muscles of his body finally melt away into the exhaustion, with his head on the blond boy's chest, he was easily able to feel and almost hear Logan's steady heartbeat, and it lulled him into the safety he was in now. Home. Finally back home. His hands dropped from his stomach and came to rest upon Logan's thighs, while strong arms pulled themselves around his waist, fingertips softly ghosting over his skin.

"Sleep if you want, Jules. I got you.” Logan's voice was barely a whisper right by his ear, lips softly touching the shell of his ear, mouthing a kiss to the side of his head, and Julian could feel his eyes falling shut. But sleep didn't came to him, instead he drifted around between being awake and asleep, giving in to the tiredness of his bones, letting the walls inside his head fall down. Nothing could happen to him, nothing as long as Logan was around. Never again.

Logan gave himself a few minutes for his own body to relax, for his sore muscles and bruised joints to soak up the warmth of the water, and he let his mind calm down upon feeling the lean body melt against his. His heart was soothed because he could feel the pulse of the boy he loved right under his fingertips whenever he raised his hand a little. The possessive, anger driven part of his mind was completely mute for once because he had everything right there beneath his hands and between his legs.

He smiled into Julian's hair, picking up a washcloth from the shelf next to the bathtub and some soap, he gently started to clean off the dirt and ash from the brunet's flawless skin. He didn't realize that he was humming to himself until he saw Julian smiling and then humming back at him just as obliviously, pale lips curled themselves into a small smirk as Logan continued to gently stroke the cloth over Julian's waist, dipping his hand between the boy's legs when his attention slipped for a moment upon seeing Julian lick his bottom lip.

But his small slip of attention prompted the sniper to gasp out, sepia eyes falling open to stare right up into his, and Logan's hand froze for a moment, but then ever so slowly started to move again when Julian's hips bucked up into his touch. The mood shifted then, and the relaxing, soothing motions were mixed with the anticipation of something more powerful, something stronger and more able to make them forget about the hardships of the day.

The air in the bathroom got clouded with lust.

Julian saw the exact moment when Logan decided to give him more pampering then initially planned, and he didn't mind it at all, his body still felt exhausted but his muscles still woke back up to the feeling of Logan gently running his fingers over his half hard erection. He let his eyes fall shut again, moving up into Logan's right hand while the left one moved over his chest in light soothing touches of fingertips on skin, and he moved back against Logan, feeling the blond boy harden against his back.

Their humming stopped when Logan's fingers wrapped themselves more deliberately around Julian's cock, and the brunet boy threw his head to one side on Logan's chest, revealing and quite openly offering his pale throat to the every hungry beast inside of Stuart's king who didn't even think about fighting against the urge to mark anymore.

Leaning down, he licked over soft skin once before kissing a trail up behind Julian's ear and then dragging his teeth over it as he went down again, sucking a deep bruise into the joining point between Julian's neck and shoulder, having the smaller boy arch himself back against his body, lips falling open in a loud moan.

They fell into a sloppy rhythm, Logan's hands stroking up and down Julian's cock and chest, fingernails being dragged over hardened nipples, their hips bucking up and down against each other as Julian moaned and keened on the slow way up towards his release. It wasn't until Logan felt the row of goosebumps fall over Julian's left arm, his shoulders and upper back that he pulled his hands back and instead cupped some still warm water over his lover's back.

Julian couldn't even feel the shiver running down his back before warm hands stroked over his naked shoulder and lips brushed kisses upon the top of his spine, letting the heat shoot through his body again.

"I think it's time we take this somewhere else.” Logan breathed into his ear, making his toes curl and Julian sat back up as Logan pushed himself up behind him, stepping out of the bathtub into the warm but still not entirely comfortable air of the bathroom. And as he was still thinking of how he would be able to move his tired legs, strong hands pulled themselves under his knees and shoulders and swept him out of the water up against a strong chest.

"Hi there." Logan chuckled when sepia eyes stared at him in surprise, the blond king was already moving towards the bathroom door, opening it with a slight twist of his wrist, and Julian wrapped both arms around Logan's neck again.

"Logan, we're dripping, you can't think of...” but the taller boy shut him up by capturing his lips with his own, stepping over to the bed with four long strides and gently laying Julian down upon the sheets. Remaining standing next to the bed for a moment, Logan let his eyes wander over Julian's body, watched as the water ran in little pearls over his flawless skin.

"You're beautiful.” he whispered, getting onto the bed and crawling up the brunet's body, leaving kisses on slowly drying skin as he went, Julian's hands quickly nestled into his hair, yanking him up the rest of the way and connecting their lips again, "Don't be so rough, kitten. We have time.” Logan chuckled against his lips when he pulled away again, stroking a hand down Julian's chest until his fingers reached the tip of Julian's erection, the brunet boy purred.

"You want some help with that?” already moving down again as he spoke, Logan spread Julian's legs with both hands so he could lay down between them, his nose and tongue drawing a line from Julian's navel downwards. Julian threw his head back into the pillows and his hands up against the headboard, curling his fingers around the wood as Logan's soft warm lips closed around his cock.

He was already so close to the edge from their fumbling in the bathtub that his breaths sped up in no time, little moans and gasps mingling together, his back arching off the bed as Logan hummed around him, soft hands urging his hips on to move. And Julian lost control, let his body take over, thrusting up into that warm cave, hitting the back of Logan's throat but keeping his speed up when no sign of protest came from the blond.

Looking down with blown wide sepia eyes, Julian felt himself taking off when he caught sight of green eyes watching his every move, and then Logan reached up with one hand to place upon his heart and Julian feel off the cliff. He came with a cry and Logan eagerly swallowed, intertwining their fingers as Julian's body melted against the mattress.

Pulling off and gently licking his lips, Logan grinned and softly stroked Julian through the aftermath of his orgasm, starting with his thighs and slowly moving up with his hands as he carefully covered Julian's body with his again, letting his warmth seek into the brunet's skin as he pulled the blanket over them.

Leaning down he captured Julian's lips for a slow kiss again, smirking at the soft moan that escaped him when Julian could taste himself on Logan's lips, and for a few minutes it was enough. Looking into each other's eyes, soft kisses, noses touching then and now, hands slowly stroking over exposed skin, feeling each other, feeling the safety and warmth.

But then Julian smiled and laid his hand on Logan's cheek, his thumb slowly stroking over pale skin, using his other hand, he slowly dragged it down Logan's back until he reached his ass, and then he pressed down and brought their erections together again. Logan's breath left him in a single gasp and green eyes filled with lust and love.

"I want you.” he admitted in a broken voice and Julian pushed his head up to bring their foreheads together, staring into green eyes with all the devotion that he didn't have to hold back anymore.

"Tonight, we don't fuck.” Julian whispered, gently starting to push his hips up, Logan moaned and closed his eyes for a second, but blinking them open again when Julian spoke again, "Tonight it's just us. Tonight, make love to me."

"Everything for you.” Logan breathed down and then leaned out of Julian's touch to kiss him again, gone were the times of reckless pleasure, gone where the times where only the sex counted, where everything else was just a means to get more and more. This was everything now, just them, together.

They smiled into their kiss as Logan grinded back at Julian, reaching back to softly pull one of the brunet's legs over his, gasping at the new angle, "Don't ever leave me.” he breathed against the skin on Julian's neck, feeling his heart beat faster when Julian brushed soft lips over his ear and answered with a simple, "Never."

Fumbling around the nightstand for a moment, Logan didn't stop grinding down at Julian, feeling him harden again beneath him, hands stroking over heated skin, with the bottle of lube in hand he sat back up, straddling the brunet thighs. Never breaking eye contact, Julian's lips fell open as Logan slowly moved his fingers over his cock, gently cupping his balls before he slipped them between his legs.

The lube felt cold on skin but Julian kept his eyes fixed on the raw love in green ones, bucking his hips up as the first finger slid inside of him, lips curling into a smile, he gasped out a moan when Logan crooked his finger, mirroring his smile on his own face. The blond added another finger, when Julian placed his hands on Logan's chest, stroking over bruised skin.

"I fought for you. I don't even feel the pain, not when you are with me.” Logan whispered and threw his head back, when Julian started stroking him, gentle, slow, nothing was rushed over this anymore, no one was chasing after release anymore, they just wanted to feel the other one. Carefully working Julian open, one hand steadily placed over Julian's heart, bucking up into Julian's hand, Logan only reopened his eyes when plastic crackled, and he saw how Julian wiped the wrapped condom from the nightstand, before catching his eyes again.

Crooking his finger he begged him down and Logan followed without thinking about it, keeping up the steady speed of his fingers he kissed Julian again, bracing himself up with his free hand, groaning when Julian licked into his mouth before pulling back again.

"Not tonight. I want to feel you. All of you.” Logan dropped his forehead upon Julian's chest upon the thought, upon feeling him, marking him as his in a way no one ever had, and it took almost every ounce of willpower he had left to not come right there and then.

Julian carded both hands through his hair, grounding him like always, "I'm ready, Lo, I need you. I want you.” both of them were painfully hard by then, and Logan slowly raised his head again, pulling his fingers back, he shifted up on Julian's body again. Lining himself up, he gasped when Julian's licked his lips, sepia eyes burning with desire and submission, and with their eyes locked Logan thrust up and pushed in.

Julian keened his back towards him immediately, hands falling upon his shoulders, as Logan's muscles rippled and strained with the effort to hold back for a moment, and then ever so soft he started moving, catching Julian in a kiss once more. And then there was nothing between them anymore, everything laid bare, every single emotion out in the open as green and sepia eyes fell shut and both gave in to their desires.

Julian hooked his legs over Logan's, letting the blond's thrust go even deeper, softly brushing over his prostrate, Logan buried his face in the crook of the brunet's neck, feeling every inch of Julian around him, under him, above him. Feeling everything, feeling how it soaked the darkness from his mind, feeling how the sun poured itself into his veins again.

"Faster.” Julian begged breathlessly, fingertips digging into Logan's shoulders before moving down to splay out over his arse, and Logan let out a silent cry when Julian pressed down, lips brushing over his ear, tongue licking a way down to his throat, "Faster, Lo.” and he complied with a snap of his hips that had Julian see stars for a second, keeping their bodies close together, he bit his lip for a moment when his body closed in on the wave to ecstasy.

"Yes.” he gasped when Logan reached behind himself with one hand and pulled one of Julian's over his head, intertwining their fingers, lips meeting for a sloppy kiss when their bodies sped up even more, and it was the sharp thrust against his prostrate and the look in green eyes as Logan turned to look at him that sent Julian over the edge. Crying out his release with a call of Logan's name, he caught the blond's head with both hands when he dropped it upon his chest again, hips stuttering for a brief second and his movements becoming more erratic as Julian clenched around him.

Dopily, Julian smiled up at him, raising his face higher until he could easily look into green eyes as Logan's lips fell open with his panting breaths, "I love you.” Julian breathed and caressed his cheek with his thumbs, "I love you, Logan.” he whispered fondly and Logan screamed as he spilled inside of him, green eyes burning with so much love for a moment that Julian almost cried out in relief himself again, and he caught Logan with warm hands as the blond body collapsed on top of him.

"I love you, too, Jules.” Logan mouthed against Julian's neck as their hearts hammered against each other in their chests.

\---

Logan still laid awake hours after Julian had fallen asleep in his arms, softly pulling his fingers through oak brown hair, gently stroking over the brunet's cheekbones, watching his chest rise and fall with his steady breaths. His lips would quirk up then and now when Julian's made those soft noises in his sleep that Logan had never before paid much attention to.

Fingers slipped under his shirt when Julian shifted and pushed himself closer again, and Logan chuckled breathlessly and curled his arm tighter around the smaller boy's waist, and when he leaned his head against Julian's, and he could smell what was undeniable Julian, he finally let his own eyes fall close.

They were home. They were safe.

\---

The next morning, Logan awoke hours before the sun was even rising, and unable to fall back asleep again, no matter how much his body and mind was screaming for more rest, he quietly slipped away from Julian and got dressed, swallowing down another pain killer before leaving his room. He was sore, there wasn't a spot on his body that didn't hurt, but he was too stubborn to admit defeat, and so he went out as if it was every other morning and ventured north.

He made a double take when he stepped into his clearing and found Riley Paige sitting on the rock in the middle of it, eyes slowly rising to meet his green ones.

"She is pregnant.” he spoke out in calm and quiet words, but his hand twitched and threw the dagger right into the centre of the target circles.

The blond had half a mind to ask whom exactly Riley was talking about, but the complete and utter fear that was lurking behind the other king's eyes, it was enough to let him swallow it done, this wasn't a place to make jokes anymore. But considering that he also had no plan whatsoever on why the Lancaster boy had come to him of all people, kind of showed him that Riley had not come to talk about his wife's surprise, he would have been better left with Derek or Marcus for that anyway.

Calmly walking over to the chest he kept hidden behind the rhododendrons, unclasping the lock he let his hand blindly reach inside until his fingers curled around the handle of the two thin sabres. Straightening up again, he threw one of the old fencing weapons over to Riley, who caught the handle without looking at him.

"The first one to hit fifteen wins. Three rounds."

It took them one and a half hours, but then Riley dropped to his knees with gasping breaths and Logan leaned back against the closest tree, not even mildly annoyed about having lost, he knew Riley Paige was more than just an equal fighter, and the frustration in both of them had needed to get out.

Hissing slightly when he touched the angry red gash on his wrist, he quickly glared at Riley when the other boy opened his mouth, apology clear in his head.

"Don't even.” Logan dared him and Riley rolled his eyes, slowly getting back to his feet and throwing the sabre back to him, "You needed this as much as I did, maybe even more.” Riley grimaced, but said nothing, just pulled out his daggers from the target again and shrugged on his jacket.

"We'll fight.” Logan made him look over to him again, "We'll fight, and we'll win, for them.” Riley surprised him when he stepped over to him again and laid one hand on his right shoulder.

"I was ready to die for her.” he spoke up and his voice was cold, "I was ready to give my life for Danny, but now I am ready to kill. We will fight when the war starts, and we will cut them down."

He watched his ally vanish into the rising sun for a while until he put the sabres away again and made his way back to his own home, but Riley had made him think, and as Stuart House came into view, windows illuminated by the sunlight, the blond pulled out his phone and started texting Julian.

\---

That night, returning from some errands, Logan caught his brother with his hand on the handle of the door of the room between Logan's own four walls and Derek's quarters, and with a silent sigh and a roll of his eyes he stepped from the shadows of the staircase. Grabbing his brother's left ear between two fingers, he pulled him away from the door of the small brunet girl, glared down at him and ignored the fingernails that came up to scratch at his arm.

"You'll thank me in three years when there isn't a two year old running around this place.” he sounded maybe a little bit too pissed off about nightly visits, and a major part of him doubted Austin was even having these kind of intentions already, supported only by the way he blushed scarlet within seconds, but Logan had enough of babies for a day.

"We weren't... wouldn't...” Austin stuttered and straightened up again when Logan let go of him, both brothers dragged a hand down their faces, but for different reasons.

"Come on, let's forget this. I have something to show to you, Julian made a good point about the northern border.” Logan was already taking a step towards his room again, gesturing for Austin to follow him, when Julie's door slowly opened, not seen by both Wrights.

"So there will be war?” her quiet voice asked into the corridor and Logan jumped, but then slowly turned around to look at her, he couldn't get a read on the girl, but he doubted anyone could, not on someone who didn't even know who she was herself. Austin smiled at his side, but it was him she was looking at, not scared, just curious, so he didn't chose his words carefully, opting for the truth instead. There wasn't any point in lying anyway, with her now among them, she was right in the middle of it all, whether she wanted to or not.

"Yes. They will start a war, but you're safe. No one will hurt you. Not anymore, not here.” Not as long as I am still breathing, I will not have my brother lose his heart again, I will not watch him feel the pain again I brought upon him once already, Logan thought as he looked into brown eyes.

"How can you know that?” Julie wanted to know, and Logan almost smiled, because wasn't the answer to that so stupid and so obvious at the same time, but it was Austin who spoke them out loud.

"Because we are Stuarts. Because we are Wrights.” he told the girl he loved, stepped closer to her and reached out with one hand to stroke over her cheek, and this time Logan smiled.

"You are one of us now, Julie. We will fight, and we will win.” he told their new addition with confidence in every word, with green eyes looking so convinced and strong that even Julie straightened up again, "We have something to fight for.” and only slightly he nudged his chin down to where Austin and Julie had intertwined their fingers.

"We will win.” Julie repeated his words, and Logan nodded, lips slowly curling into a smirk when Julian appeared in his doorway and then came to stand next to him, Logan pulling him close with one arm, from the other end of the corridor Derek and Marcus came walking towards them.

"Our kingdom will stand.” Stuart's king called out and let his eyes slowly fall over the people closest to him, and he could see his determination reflected in their eyes, "We will live, because we're survivors."

\---

"What did they say?” Julian wanted to know from Logan's side after the moment of silence seemed to have lasted long enough in his mind, sepia eyes were focused on grey and hazel ones, on the two boys who had returned from the hospital only moments earlier. Derek smiled and curled an arm around Marcus's waist, mirroring his best friend's posture.

"She is responding well to the medication.” Derek took the biggest worry immediately from their shoulders, Julie leaned further against Austin, "It will take some time, but they are very sure that Ali will make a full recovery. Franzi will stay with her for another night until Ace is fit enough to take over.” the brunet explained and leaned his head against Marcus shoulder for a moment, gone where the times where they had kept a distance between themselves outside of their rooms, they had both lost and found too much to stay alone any longer.

"What about your ribs?” Logan asked the dark haired boy and Marcus grimaced in a first response, raising a hand to lightly place upon his chest.

"Nothing is broken, but they said it was close. Gonna lay low for a couple of days.” Logan nodded, they would all law low for a couple of days, plans needed to be made, strategies needed to be tested out, and most of all, wounds needed to heal, "Get some rest, we'll figure everything out tomorrow. Austin can take over from Jason tomorrow and Jason can take your shifts until you are better. It'll give him a good chance to prove himself."

"But I...” Austin started protesting immediately, just like Logan had expected him to, but where he was already forming the suitable explanation of 'you can barely stand more than five minutes on your left foot', Julie took the direct approach and elbowed the prince hard in his side, effectively shutting him up. Julian tried to hide his amused bubble of laughter in Logan's chest while sky blue eyes glared at narrowed brown ones, Logan took the whole scene in with a little too much glee, it was high time someone showed Austin his limits.

With love. Always with love.

"Then, it's goodnight from us. Don't even dare and make any sound outside my door until noon.” Derek grumbled, especially in direction of his blond best friend, who rolled his eyes as both, Derek and Marcus vanished inside the Hand's rooms, slamming the door shut.

Logan turned to look at the two teenagers still snuggling silently in front of the girl's door, raising an eyebrow over green eyes, he had Austin blush in seconds again.

"Right.” he stuttered out and untangled himself from his girlfriend, "Yes, my room. Sleep. In my room.” Julie snickered and quickly disappeared into Amanda's old room when Julian turned his look towards her, Austin brushed past them with a scarlet head.

"Young love.” Julian gushed and rolled his own eyes, grabbing Logan's hand, he pulled the blond back into the king's rooms, locking the door once they were both inside, and even though Logan huffed in protest, the brunet continued to push him towards the bed, "Don't even dare say a word, I saw how you have been grimacing all day whenever you so much as raised your hand. You are black and blue all over.” Julian pushed him down to sit on the edge of bed, digging his fingers into his shoulder blades only ever so slightly but still making him cringe and groan out in obvious discomfort, "You should have let someone look at you, Lo.” he tried it with a softer approach in his voice, falling to his knees in front of the blond.

Logan reached up and dragged hand down his face, he had put on the long sleevesdblack shirt for reasons this morning, it covered over the extensive bruises on his back, chest and shoulders, but Julian had caught him half undressed in the bathroom when he had come back from his little meeting with Riley. And there was probably no one on the third story who hadn't heard the following scream of shock that had left Julian's lips, Logan had immediately felt bad for hiding it from him.

"It's just bruises, Jules, it'll go away. I'm fine.” tender hands reached up and slipped under his shirt, fingers ghosting over the sore muscles on his abdomen.

"Don't pretend, Logan, not for me, please don't. I'm so sick of pretending. You don't need to be strong for me.” Closing his eyes, Logan finally gave up and let the mask fall, tension falling off his shoulders as Julian gently pushed him to lay down on the bed, taking off his shoes in the process and only stopping his prodding and poking when Logan was laying under the blanket, head on the comfortable pillows.

Logan felt his limbs turn to steel in the next moment, his exhaustion becoming quite prominent again, and he felt the mistakes of the day coming back to haunt him, instead of staying in bed like Julian had most of the time, he had forced himself to move on as if nothing had ever happened, despite everything he had promised himself yesterday.

"I'm sorry.” he whispered almost as Julian straightened up again and walked over to the window to pull down the blinds, but when he turned around again, he wasn't disappointed, almost smiling, Julian pulled his shirt over his chest and stepped out of his sweatpants. Coming to kneel on the edge of Logan's bed again, clad in nothing but his boxer shorts, the brunet sniper smirked at hooded green eyes who stared up at him.

"Don't be. Just don't pretend you are okay, when you're not. I get it, okay? I get that you don't want to look weak in front of the Lancasters or our boys, but in front of us? Your family? We all know better, Lo, so don't play an act.” the blond nodded and closed his eyes when Julian pulled back the blanket and slipped underneath it, fingers instantly opening his belt.

"Now let me help you relax.” Logan's lips fell open when Julian palmed him through his pants and used his other hand to slowly stroke up his right arm, a deep moan later, Logan felt a smirk on his throat and let himself fall, "That's it. Just me and you tonight. Let me help you, just like you did for me yesterday.” with Julian's voice to close by his ear, Logan turned his face to the side and opened green eyes.

Julian had laid down next to him, one hand still stroking over his slowly hardening cock, and he smiled and nuzzled their noses together for a moment, until Logan pushed forward and captured his lips with his own, only breaking apart with a loud gasp when Julian cupped him.

"I love you.” Logan panted out as the air filled his lungs again, and Julian leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth, stopping his teasing for a moment he sat back up and helped Logan out of his shirt.

"I love you, too.” he answered with a sweet smile and then lowered his head to gently kiss a path down Logan's chest, softly kissing and caressing the ugly purple bruises on the blond's chest and stomach, Logan threw his head back and moaned, hips moving up on their accord to search for a brief moment of friction.

Julian froze for a second when a deep moan could be heard through the wall, and then sepia eyes narrowed while Logan raised an eyebrow over closed eyes, "Derek has an interesting definition of laying low.” Julian quipped in a dry tone and rolled his eyes almost to the back of his head when a dull thud vibrated from the wall, but then his hands made quick work of Logan's zipper, "Well, if he wants a competition, he can gladly get one."

Not stopping his slow path down Logan's chest, he let one hand sneak under the hem of his king's boxer shorts, fingers gripping the twitching erection while Logan keened and pushed his hips up to meet his hand, thrusting up into his relaxed hold on him.

"That's it.” Julian grinned against the heaving muscles on Logan's stomach, letting his tongue flick out and softly play with the depth of Logan's navel, out of the corner of his eyes he saw how the blond king let his fingers grip onto the bed sheet, "Just relax now."

He moved up then, sliding down Logan's body and pulling off his pants and shorts, settling on his knees between the other boy's open legs and pulling the blanket over them again when Logan shivered, the distant thuds had fallen into a steady rhythm. Licking his lips in anticipation, Julian let his hands fall upon either hip of Logan's and then he chuckled as he leaned down, teasingly letting his tongue lick at the tip of the blond's twitching cock, Logan muffled a scream, Julian pulled back again without hesitating.

Pulling up the top of the blanket, he caught green eyes that were blown wide, Logan's lips were swollen where he had bitten them to keep quiet, "This is not how the game goes.” Logan huffed, "Come on, we can't let Derek get away with an ego boost.” Julian joked half-heartedly, but Logan didn't show any of the usual snark, softly placing his hands upon Julian's on his hips, he smiled.

"Give him this one, Jules, it doesn't always have to be about the victory."

No, this one is about you, and only you, Julian decided and have Logan a crooked grin in return before he vanished under the blanket again, not wasting any more precious time, he took Logan in his mouth in such a rapid speed that Logan did scream this time.

"JESUS CHRIST JULIAN!"

Chuckling around the quickly rock hard cock between his lips, Julian pressed Logan's hips down again, intertwining their fingers when Logan asked for it wordlessly. He started to suck his tongue licking up and down the shaft like he did it with those red lollipops he loved so much, the ones that drove Logan insane with want.

Shifting a little higher he swallowed around the tip as Logan's moans and groaning got louder, the restless bucking of his hips under Julian's hands increasing.

"Yes, yes.” the blond panted, breaths coming out in quick little gasps that had Julian hum around the hot flesh in his mouth, sepia eyes falling close in his own pleasure, and soon enough Logan's fingers tightened their hold on his own, and his movements became a little more erratic. Speeding up a little more Julian gave him the last edge, and with a long and load groan of his name, Logan came.

\---

Logan was almost asleep already by the time Julian had cleaned him off again and had cuddled close to him under the blanket, gently kissing him, he let the blond bury his face in the crook of his neck for once, an arm falling around his waist.

"I've got you. Just sleep now, Lo. We can hate the world tomorrow again.” smiling against his lover's forehead, he stroked some fingers through blond hair and closed his eyes when he felt Logan's breathe even out against his neck.

Nothing will stop us. No one has the power to stop us now. Together, we'll be invincible.

Rustle.

One sepia eye popped open again, staring into the darkness of the room for a moment, before Julian closed his eye again and leaned back into Logan.

Rustle. Rustle.

Two sepia eyes popped open and Julian huffed quietly, untangling one hand from the blanket he let it drop from the bed, splaying his palm over the ground, snickering silently when he immediately felt a tiny nose sniffing at them before small paws carefully moved to stand upon it.

Raising his hand back upon the bed, he brought the little creature to his chest, placing him down right next to where Logan was cuddled against him, the little animal's nose sniffed at blond hair but then quickly turned his cute little eyes back upon his owner.

"Hey there, escaped again, hm?” the small hedgehog gave no sound, and instead he laid down upon the blanket on Julian's chest and curled into a ball, Julian chuckled and closed his eyes again, "Goodnight, Sonic."

\---

To be continued in Act III: A Rebellion, Part I: We don't shoot first.


	9. Interlude

It was like a scene from a very, very bad movie, as Julian stumbled up the stairs and crashed against the corridor wall to keep himself from falling flat on his face. He whirled around the corner in the next moment and continued down the corridor, pushing blindly past Nick and Thad who were frozen outside of Logan's door. And then he saw, and then he froze.

The screams were cutting right through his body, right through the walls he usually kept up now around everyone outside his most inner circle, and they hit him right in the dead centre. The pain was so heavy and intense that it almost pushed him to his knees, and he had to grab the doorframe to keep from falling over.

Logan and Marcus both were kneeling on either side of him, their arms were holding him down, holding him down with almost all of their strength, because he was fighting like a threatened animal.

Screaming. Trashing around wildly. His hands were reaching for their arms, for every piece of skin he could find so his fingernails could draw blood.

Derek wanted blood. He wanted pain, more pain, he wanted everyone to feel what he was feeling. The fire. The overbearing pain.

But somehow, as he stood there frozen and strangely cut off from all of it, Julian could only think one thing.

So it was true. It had been their plane.

Cyrus and Amanda were dead.

Amanda was gone.

\---

"Why is this necessary?" Danny rolled his eyes and ignored her annoyed and over curious question, it was exactly the reason why she had to go, her never ending tendency to always stick her nose into things she should rather stay far away from would get her killed if he didn't take actions now.

God alone knew Justin was useless now. Charlie had crashed his claws into their king and had sucked the neutrality right out of him.

There would be a war. Danny could smell it coming now, and tonight was his last chance to get Laura Bancroft far away from them.

Leaning down to look into the car where the blond girl was scowling up at him from the backseat, he tried to narrow his eyes and be stern with her one last time.

"I've explained this to you a thousand times. You are not safe here anymore, and frankly, I am tired of always debating and arguing with you Bancrofts. You are going, Laura, that's final." and pulling his head back, he slammed the door shut hard enough to rattle the entire car.

Nicholas looked up from where he had been leaning against the driver's door, studying his shoes for minutes now, Danny glared until he looked away again.

It was unfair, he knew that, unfair to both of them, but even more so to Laura, because she was innocent, she couldn't be blamed for her brother suddenly caving in like a brick of melting butter, just because Charlie had put his hands and tongue to such good use that there wasn't a place in Hanover sacred anymore.

"Take care of her." Danny said to the Kingsguard member, and Nicholas nodded once before he stepped into the car, it hadn't been difficult at all to convince him to take Laura over the border, with his brother among their enemies, he had been scared to be faced with the order to fight against him to the death.

Because that was what was awaiting them.

Once ignited, the flame wouldn't extinguish until every last source of heat was cold.

Danny had seen the fire in Logan's eyes. He had seen the level of insanity Charlie had fallen into.

This would all end in death.

Until one sole king remained.

Watching the car disappear down the empty street outside Dalton's grounds, he pulled his hood over his head again and turned back into the Death Zone, rubbing over the stump of his missing finger without noticing.

A storm was racing closer.

And Danny had no idea if he was ready.  
\---

The bar was filled to the brink with people when he came down from the mansion, pale fingers gliding over the banister of the dark brown wooden staircase that let down into the courtyard, his one chance to survey the crowd at the tables without being seen.

He let his eyes quickly scan over the people, but upon seeing no familiar faces, he stepped fully down the stairs and walked over to the secluded area with the settee, it was quiet in the courtyard, just like it had been for over two years now.  
And it was this silence most of all that he dreaded in his home now, the one place that had been so full of life and happiness once, before it had all gone to hell, before they had taken everything from him.

He had spent more time sitting at the bar, hitting back one Scotch over the other than taking care of his city, but his heart was bleeding and his fingers were itching to take the country apart.

He had gotten back from Mexico only two days ago, but he was already restless and completely unable to sleep, no matter how much he had missed New Orleans, no matter how much he had missed the smell, the taste, the air, the sounds in the French Quarter, his city couldn't bring his mind to peace anymore.

He was a king with only half his family.

“I want my girl back.”, he sighed and dragged both hands down his face, only looking up again when he heard the sigh behind his back, turning his head around he caught sight of his dark haired brother walking towards him from the open foyer door.

“We'll get her back, Nik.”, Eli said and loosened his tie, he must have come back from their arms dealers, but then again, he always looked official and formal, it was hard to let go of old habits, even if the world changed. He was a king now, but he still loved his simple shirts and jeans, especially here in his home town, it blended him in.

“We'll find her and bring her home.”, another voice joined their little conversation and with a smile he turned his eyes towards the stairs again, watching his older daughter descend with her graceful moves, still a little to thin for his liking, but she was getting better. Her dark red hair tumbled down her back when she finished the braid with her long fingers before she walked over to him, green dress floating over the ground.

Yes, they would find her, find her and bring her back home, back to New Orleans. He would reunite his family again, nothing would make him stronger. And he would need to be strong, get all the power he was able to find if he wanted to take John Wright down.

He was a Sarie. He was unbowed, unbent, unbroken. And no one was taking a Princess of New Orleans from her family.

\---

He grinned as he sat back behind his desk, crossing his feet under the table and folding his hands together in his lap as he read over the latest news from Westerville.

It was all going so perfectly.

Almost as though the chess pieces had finally understood the game and were ready to move.

He could already feel the fire rising in his king.

"Just be patient a little longer, my boy. Winter is coming."


	10. Not a chapter - author's note

I am very sorry to say that I had to put this story on hiatus for now. Due to some personal issues and emotional reasons I don't feel able to write on GoK at the moment, I might have to focus on some happier and lighter stuff in the next few weeks.

This story still means very much to me after everything it set in motion on plurk and I still have a lot of fun with it, but I just can't give it the attention it deserves at the moment, and I don't want this story to end in some rushed 5000 words on a weekend, I want it to have the third Act and ending it deserves, so I'll take a break from it.

I will finish "A Game of Kings", maybe I'll start in three weeks, maybe in three months, but I will finish it, it means too much to me to just let it float around like this. But real life comes first and I come first, fanfiction has to wait in line.

If you stick with the story still, I will be very grateful for your patience, if you don't, I understand as well.

Bye.


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